


The Cut That Always Bleeds

by mylevelance



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Light Angst, M/M, Slow Burn, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, architect!Sokka, but also idiots to lovers, disaster!Zuko
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:15:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 32,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26575090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mylevelance/pseuds/mylevelance
Summary: Zuko goes from a struggling art school grad to a successor of a multibillion dollar corporation in one night, but he can't tell a stock from a bitcoin. It doesn't help that the (unfairly good-looking) intern from the office upstairs runs into him at the worst possible moment.Sokka goes from a happy architect-in-training to a pissed off architect-in-training when some (hot) asshole practically runs him over. It doesn't help that his work goes flying everywhere.And it definitely doesn't help that it keeps happening.(or the one where two soulmates run into each other and purposely miss the point).
Relationships: Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 160
Kudos: 663





	1. Royal Pain

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> I was feeling like some romantic angst to go along with my academic angst so here we are.
> 
> Feel free to drop a comment and tell me how you really feel or come chat @mylevelance on twt.
> 
> Planning on a weekly update for this, but I have a bad habit of doing this instead of my actual work, so it'll probs be more often!
> 
> -mylevelance

Sokka couldn’t sleep. Worry and anxiety lingered in the back of his mind. He twisted in his sheets, kicked off the duvet, and flipped the pillow to the cold side. Sokka wanted to scream. There was no point, they wouldn’t hear him.

Maybe Katara would hear him in the other room, but she wasn't the problem. His soulmate, wherever they were, was freaking out. 

The mark on his chest had appeared when he was fifteen. It was a wave curling over his heart with a spray of sea foam creeping up to his shoulder in red like a wine stain. The day after it had appeared, he started to feel anger that he didn’t come by naturally and pain that he didn’t understand. Someone else's emotions.

Gran had told him how special it was, only a portion of the population developed a bond. She had told him that he would never be alone again. Katara had told him that she was jealous and Sokka realized he had something he wouldn't have to share. 

Sokka had his soulmate and he could keep them. After his mother had passed away, he had his soulmate to feed him comfort. After his dad was sent to another Coast Guard attachment, leaving him and Katara to figure out their last years of high school living with gran, he had his soulmate to keep him company. 

The company was welcome, most of the time. Not right now, though. The light from his bedside clock shifted as the number changed to 1:30 am.  
Sokka had work in the morning, he wanted to be snoring by now. Time for the warm fuzzies. He closed his eyes and forced his breathing slow. The day with Aang and Suki by the beach would be a good one. 

Sokka thought of how the sun had warmed his skin and sparkled in Katara’s eyes. The water had been perfectly cool on that hot day, especially after Suki instigated, and won, the water fight. The sand was soft underfoot while they walked, laughing themselves silly with a wet sand hairdo smeared on Aang's bald head.

There. The tension eased between his shoulders. His soulmate was sleeping, finally. In no time at all, he was out cold.

************

Zuko flew out the door, sprinting down the street, shoving the last bites of his bagel into his mouth. He caught his phone just as it slipped out from under his arm.

“Shit, shit, shit,” he chanted. He hadn't really needed the extra five minutes of sleep. He really hadn’t needed the sting of shock that thrummed in his blood, making him nick himself while shaving. His soulmate, wherever they were had been jarred awake again this morning, causing him to jump. Couldn’t they stay calm today? Just for a bit?

It wasn’t his main problem right now. Where the hell did he park? Yesterday he had moved his car so his elderly neighbour didn’t have to walk as far to his door. How everyone in this neighbourhood suddenly had silver sedans the same as his, Zuko didn’t know. 

He swallowed hard on his too big bite of bagel and clicked the lock of his car. Hearing a beep across the street, he rushed across and slid into the driver’s seat. The squeal of tires on concrete made him wince as he peeled away. 

The rain picked up again just as he hit downtown. The traffic was what he thought it would be: bad. The rain didn’t help. Zuko squinted at the clock in the centre consol, he was so screwed. There was a shortcut he could take through a series of back alleys, but he would have to gun it to make it on time to the meeting.

It wasn’t one where he could afford to be late. His first board meeting as majority shareholder in Reyall Ltd. loomed. His father’s trial had only concluded two weeks ago with an embezzlement and fraud charge hefty enough to get him sent to prison. Zuko was certain that Ozai would be out again before he knew it. Regardless of the embezzlement, Ozai had been filthy rich before. Wealthy people weren’t necessarily known for having trouble with parole. Nothing like a little late stage capitalism and corruption in the morning, Zuko thought bitterly as he veered into a one way alley. 

His father’s jail charges wouldn’t have impacted Zuko directly, other than an unpleasant reminder of what he’d turned his back on when he left home, if not for the bait and switch. They hadn’t spoken since Zuko turned eighteen and left to struggle through an art history degree on his own. Then it had come out last week that Ozai had “gifted” his shares in Reyall to Zuko in a ploy to avoid certain obstruction of justice charges. 

According to the lawyer, Ozai had been sure that he would go free and recoup the shares at the end of the day without Zuko ever finding out. Zuko hadn't even been at the trial, there was no way he ever would have known about the shares. But then there was a phone recording Ozai didn’t expect, a witness he hadn’t noticed, and a body of evidence a little more iron clad against him than his lawyer had led him to believe. And that left Ozai locked away, out of reach of his shares. 

Suddenly Zuko, estranged from his family Zuko, hadn’t taken a single econ course in his life Zuko, was the principal owner of one of the most infamous development firms in the market. 

The wipers squeaked against the windshield. Zuko rolled through a stop sign and swerved around a delivery truck. The urge to pull a U-turn and go home grew with every shaky breath. 

He felt another thrum in his veins. His soulmate was stressing too right now. He could almost pinpoint what kind of worry it was after seven years bound together. Today it felt like a running late kind of stress, a bit of anxiety with a dash of exhilaration. Zuko knew it wasn’t his own brand of running late, which was more of a dread/panic combination. His soulmate had a slant of happiness painting every bad feeling in a bit of warmth. Zuko wouldn’t admit how much he relied on those good feelings when he had so little of his own.

He used to feel guilty that his soulmate probably felt less than nice things through the blood bond. The studies said what he had was rare, one in six thousand rare. The media said what he had was unnatural. His dad sure thought so. 

He had learned that soulmates were almost certain to meet each other, drawn subconsciously together by the bond. Zuko used to spin around in his backyard trying to feel for his bond in different directions, until he understood that the subconscious part meant he wouldn’t be able to tell. He used to stay up late, reading the stories of people who met their match by chance; on a train, or in a class, or even on a trip abroad, and daydream about how he would meet his own soulmate. 

As an adult, Zuko felt more at peace with taking what he could get from his soulmate at a distance. It had been seven years since he felt the first emotion of someone else in his body. With every passing day, he felt more like he would be in the “almost” part of the “almost certain to meet”. It would be what he deserved, to fall through the cracks.

It was okay, he thought as he ran through a yellow light, to not meet them. It might be for the best. He liked having someone feel close to with no strings. They might never have to see him flinch at his father’s voice or have to see the ruined corner of his face. 

He stopped himself from looking at the scar in the rearview mirror. He knew what it looked like. He was grateful, at least, that he had seen the little mark on his temple before his father had… replaced it. The mark had been a curling flame with ash rising into his hairline. Fifteen year old Zuko thought it was really cool and better than any of the other ones he saw online. He had taken a picture of it on the day it showed up. The next day it was erased.

Lost in his thoughts, Zuko barely hit the breaks in time. A bike zipped across the intersection just as Zuko’s light turned red. He swerved wide, a flash of terror running through him. His car just clipped the back wheel of the bike. Zuko threw the car in park and leapt out.

Rolls of paper littered the wet street. The horn blares and pattering of rain fell muffled on Zuko’s ears. Would he have to call an ambulance? Did he just kill someone?

The cyclist was already on their feet inspecting their bike. They weren’t wearing a helmet. God this could have gone so badly. 

Traffic started to move around them. 

“Oh my god are you okay?” Zuko asked frantically. The cyclist turned. Zuko felt like his heart stuttered in his chest. Icy blue eyes set in tan high cheekbones. Full lips and a sharp jaw. Dark brown hair pulled up. Broad shoulders and-

“What the fuck man?” the guy said. His voice snapped Zuko back into the present moment. Zuko flushed, rain trickling uncomfortably down his face.

“Sorry, sorry I wasn’t driving carefully.” Zuko hated that the first words that had popped into his head were actually ‘I am not at fault’. Even if he could escape his father’s presence, it didn’t mean he could escape Ozai’s influence. 

The cyclist propped his bike against Zuko’s car and started collecting the rolls of paper. 

“I’m so screwed,” the man mumbled to himself. Zuko bit down on a flash of annoyance. He shouldn’t be annoyed, he was the one that had almost killed this guy. It didn’t feel like his own annoyance though, he felt it more through the bond in his veins than in his own head. He bent to pick up one of the rolls near his feet. It was soaked through.

A hand snatched the roll away.

“Sorry, again,” said Zuko. 

“Well thank you for your deeply heartfelt apology but that’s not going to bring my drafts back, asshat,” the man said sharply.

“I can pay for any damage,” Zuko said through a clenched jaw. The guy scoffed.

“Of course you can pay, only rich jerkwads with no regard for anyone else drive like that.”

“I’m-” Zuko stopped. He was going to deny it. That he was just another university grad struggling in the city. But that wasn’t true anymore. “I’m late and I already apologized and offered to pay,” Zuko said, aware he was being rude. Maybe he would have been nicer if he wasn't running behind and if he wasn't caught off guard. The man rolled his eyes and stuffed the papers into his bag, Zuko forged on despite his simmering frustration, “Take my number if you want to sue me or cyberbully me, I don’t care.”

An odd sensation of humour flickered through his veins. Zuko pulled out a scrap paper from his glove box and scratched out his phone number, name, and insurance info. 

The guy took the paper Zuko offered and pushed off on his bike through the intersection again with a parting glare. 

A car honked. Zuko hustled to slide back into his sedan. He was officially two minutes late for the board meeting and he still had to park. And he was soaking wet. Well, it’s not like he was expecting to make a good impression. 

Zuko drove the next two blocks well under the speed limit, knuckles white on the wheel.


	2. Losing Streak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka cannot catch a break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So maybe I am naming all of my chapters after the Shrek the Third soundtrack. It is a masterpiece.

Sokka shook his hair out in the hall. The woman behind the reception counter gave him a dirty look. He returned it.

Sokka was still rattled by actually getting hit. He had barely registered the driver until he was holding onto Sokka’s ruined drafts and looking not quite sorry enough. Sokka really should have pushed for more information and maybe got a witness or something. 

He just couldn’t think clearly. His emotions had been all tangled with his soulmate’s all morning. His alarm had pulled him abruptly out of a misty dream where he had been holding someone’s hand and leaning into their shoulder. He had jolted awake and been hit immediately with an odd mix of concern/frustration from his soulmate. 

Okay so maybe he had pedalled too fast down that hill and maybe he had jumped the gun on the green light, but the sound of horrible screeching on wet pavement still came as a surprise. 

Sokka’s muddle of emotions had made his chest clench weirdly when he made eye contact with the driver. Zuko was his name, according to the slip of paper with the phone number. It was whatever his soulmate was doing that made his heart lurch like that, Sokka was sure. Maybe they had gone bungee jumping. 

Sokka rolled his eyes at himself. Or he had seen a fine-ass man and his body got in front of his head. And that never went well for anyone.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” Suki drawled from their shared work room when Sokka made it to the architecture office on the twentieth floor.

“That’s rude, Suki,” Toph said. 

“Uh, well, I mean loo-, uh, see- here’s Sokka!”

Toph clapped Suki on the shoulder, cloudy eyes aimed just to the left of Sokka’s head, “Just messing with ya. He’s got exceptionally terrible vibes right now. I can tell from here.”

“Ughhhh,” Sokka moaned, dumping his messenger bag of soggy paper on the drafting table.

“What’s up, Socks?” Suki asked, wandering over to see what the papers were.

“They’re all done for,” he said, leaning his forehead on the corner of the drafting table. 

The strain of anxiety in his veins ratcheted up significantly. Maybe his soulmate really was going bungee jumping. 

“Are those-?” Sokka nodded against the table, not caring if he was actually getting more water on the drafting table, “No,” Suki gasped.

“What’s he done this time?” Toph asked, settling into a spinny chair at her regular office desk in the corner of the room, “I’m sure nothing that your big lumpy brain can’t fix.”

“It’s the whole thing, Toph. My soulmate was having some wild insomnia situation last night so I slept in, then my drafts got tossed in a puddle because some jackass hit me with his car. They’re just pulp now. I was totally going to scan a copy today, just in case,” he was totally lying about that, but it was possible that he could have wanted to make a copy today.

“Shit, Sokka are you okay?” Suki asked. She tentatively picked up a roll. It split in half and hit the table with a wet smack.

“Yeah, my back tire’s flat so I’ll have to get it fixed, but I’m okay. I got his information and everything so I can use Katara’s legal voodoo to take his money.”

“There ya go,” said Toph, “Some good old fashioned robbery will cheer you right up!”

Sokka shared a look with Suki from the table. She shrugged as if to say ‘not a bad plan’. 

If Sokka hadn’t known that Suki didn’t have a birthmark, he would have thought that she was his soulmate. They had met in university and hit it off like they had known each other forever. Suki taught him how to drink his respecting-women-juice and Sokka talked her through some of the math courses of her landscape architecture degree with some help from tequila. He thought the universe must have had a soft spot for him, to end up with both of them interning together at the same architecture firm. 

Toph had come into play a little later, really just this most recent project as the accessibility consultant in training, but she slid right into their dynamic with a kick to the shins. 

The current project the interns were working on was an elementary school. Between coffee runs and churning out photocopies for the big time architects, they had to apply what they learned at the firm and present a plan for the new school. If it was good enough, the firm would use the design. Sokka knew it would be good enough. Or it would have been good enough if it wasn’t a puddle of mush. 

“So what’s the game plan Scrappy Doo?” Toph said, kicking off her shoes under her desk. Sokka was used to it at this point, she said she got “better views” with her sock-feet on the ground.

“I guess I gotta re-draft all of it,” he said glumly. Suki rubbed a soothing hand on his still soggy back.

“You’ll get it done,” Suki said, “Do you need a pep talk?”

“I need a pep talk.”

Suki cleared her throat while Toph rolled her eyes, “You graduated from the top of your class in the most competitive program in the goddamn world. You did that while paying for your sister’s law school. You had the most job offers out of anyone in the entire faculty. Why’s that?”

“Because he lied on his resume?” interjected Toph.

“Because you’re a goddamn genius,” continued Suki. Sokka peeled his head off the table. Suki wasn’t done, “You drafted a completely flawless civic building design not only three weeks before the deadline, but also before the rest of us were even halfway through. Why’s that?”

“Because he’s a workaholic with no social life,” said Toph.

“Because you’re a goddamn genius!” said Suki. 

Suki reached over to flick Toph in the back of the head before she made another comment.

“And you are going to recreate your design from scratch in no time, why’s that?” Suki asked. She put both hands on either side of Sokka’s shoulders and turned him to face her. He knew this part.

“Because I’m a goddamn genius,” he muttered. A weight in his heart had vanished from him during her speech. He smiled.

“That’s right,” Suki cheered, patting him on either shoulder roughly then shoving him away, “because you’re a fucking-”

The door swung open, “Hey kids, we need caffeine, stat,” said the director of interior design. She shut the door quickly.

There was a beat of silence. 

“Nose!” yelled Toph. Sokka rushed his finger to his nose. He was last.

“What happened to Sokka the goddamn genius?” he whined.

Suki shrugged, “You have the biggest hands, you get to carry the most coffee.”

He scowled, just for show, as he left for the elevator. He wasn’t going to make Toph carry the coffees and her cane and her phone. He’d get Suki next time. 

He knew, on some level, that she was right. He really could pull it together before the deadline. When his brain settled on a project, it took up half of his thoughts until it was done. Toph was right in some way, the project would have all his focus until it was done.

He rode the elevator down alone.

In the minute and a half for the elevator to reach the bottom floor Sokka drowned. 

He knew this sensation better than he wanted to. A familiar kind of tidal wave. It was like his clothes were itchy and his throat went dry. Humiliation threatened to turn his ears red. It wasn’t his own shame and antsiness. His soulmate was getting picked apart from the outside, again. It happened way more often to his soulmate than to anyone else on the planet, Sokka thought.

He tried to pass on some of the reassurance he had got from Suki to his soulmate. It was second nature to ease his soulmate out of a spiral by simply sharing a slice of his own happy. 

Soothing his soulmate had the very first thing he had done when he felt the bond crackle alive at fifteen years old. One moment he had been fighting with his sister over the TV remote, trying to mask the grief for his recently departed mother. The next moment there had been someone who was hurting more, fighting more, there with him. Without really thinking about it, Sokka had switched gears from wrestling with Katara to thinking about something good. A little warmth coloured his memories of his dad teaching him to throw a boomerang for the first time. The storm of rage and pain on the other end of the bond in his veins eased. He and his soulmate felt their first perfectly in sync emotion; relief. 

From that moment, Sokka had resolved that no matter what kind of trouble he got into, he could make it fun, make it good for the soulmate on the other end. 

He knew that after loving them like that for seven years, he wouldn’t be able to do anything but love them just as fiercely when he found them for real.

The elevator door dinged and the sounds of the bustling lobby swirled around him.

The line at the lobby coffee shop was about twenty frazzled interns long. Sokka squared his shoulders and plastered on a grin.

“Helen!” he called, approaching the back of the coffee bar instead of the back of the line.

Helen was in her late forties, an institution of the lobby coffee shop, or so Sokka’s boss told him. It was suggested on his first day that his ability to get coffee for a lot of people fast would be a marker of his resourcefulness. Corporate culture was so fucking stupid sometimes.

Nevertheless he wanted to come off as resourceful because he wanted the big fancy job which might allow him to buy more boomerangs and maybe pay off Katara’s law school loans before they were eighty. So he got on Helen’s good side.

“Young man, you seem like you could use a pick-me-up,” Helen said, doing complicated maneuvers with the espresso machine. 

“I sure could, Helen,” he said. His gran had taught him to always add names and compliments into his sentences when speaking to someone he wanted to like him, “And may I say you look very elegant today.”

Helen tittered and tucked a grey strand of hair behind her ear, “Very kind of you to say. What’ll it be today?”

“Six black coffees, two caramel macchiatos, and three of whatever specialty drink is on the board there,” Sokka ordered. He ignored the narrowed eyes of the people in the line. If they wanted their coffee faster, they should have thought about sweet talking the baristas earlier in the day.

“Sure thing, handsome.”

He slid the company card across the counter and settled his elbow on the corner to wait. 

His soulmate had calmed down a lot since he last checked in. Hopefully their whole embarrassing or uncomfortable situation was done. Sokka had been in all kinds of sticky spots over the years and always laughed it off. He got the sense his soulmate didn’t get to laugh very much. 

In no time he collected his drinks and thanked Helen. The cups in the trays took a minute to balance, but he started walking before he got them just right. The faster he got back to the office, the faster he could pick up where he left off recreating the bones of the design. He turned and-

Ran smack into a chest, losing his grip on one of the trays. He watched four black coffees splatter the ground around a pair of black dress shoes. And down a pair of black slacks. And all over a white shirt. 

“Oh-”

Sokka’s voice died in his throat. 

A spark of recognition, so strong he almost jumped, zipped down his spine. 

It was the driver from his morning from hell. Zuko. 

He looked different dry. For one, Sokka noticed a painful looking red scar looping from his left eye socket to temple. He seemed a bit more put together too, aside from the growing coffee stain over his stomach. His hair was slicked back and his eyebrows, eyebrow really, weren’t creased with concern like earlier that morning. His honey coloured eyes gave him away. They darted from Sokka to his shoes to the lobby door and back again. He looked like he wanted to escape. 

“So do you run into starving interns for fun or…” Sokka trailed off, raising an eyebrow.

“I-, you know-, fuck me,” Zuko was flustered. He looked down at the spilled drinks.

Sokka knew what he meant but he couldn’t resist, “Not with that attitude.”

It was more than a little satisfying to see Zuko’s head whip up fast enough to break his own neck. 

“What?”

“What?” Sokka said back. It struck him that neither of them had moved to clean up the mess or themselves. He hadn’t even stepped out of the coffee puddle expanding across the lobby floor. His soulmate was anxious again. Sokka was too busy with his own mess to send anything nice their way.

“I don’t-”

Sokka spared them both, unnerved by the humiliation making a resurgence in his bond, “Here’s what you’re going to do, Buffalo Bill; I’m going to haul ass to the twentieth floor to keep a scrap of the hard earned reputation I am cultivating like my own kiss-ass shrub. You are going to purchase four medium black coffees and meet me on the twentieth floor outside the elevators,” Zuko opened his mouth to protest so Sokka blustered on, pointing a finger in his face, “I still have your number from when you hit me with your car like two hours ago. I can and will give it to those scammy East end night clubs and tell them you’re Drake.”

Zuko blinked, “Uh…”

“Great, thanks, see you in a few,” Sokka said. He stepped out of the puddle and speed walked to the elevator before Zuko could say another word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I deeply apologize to anybody who understands how architecture works. I am not one of these people, but I felt like it fit the vibes for this AU.
> 
> Lmk what you all think!


	3. Barracuda

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko's first day at the office goes really well and he understands stonks. The intern from upstairs is really easy to deal with and not at all nice to look at.

_2 hours earlier_

Zuko burst into the conference room, breathing hard. Twelve heads swivelled to stare at him. He gulped and straightened his posture.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” a cloying voice said from the end of the conference table. It was his sister Azula, looking sharp enough to cut in a burgundy suit. Her dark red lips curled into a smile. He hadn’t spoken to her since the beginning of the trial, it would have made things worse. 

“Uh, sorry for being late, that’s some traffic huh?” Zuko’s attempt at small talk fell flat. A few of the older board members actually frowned at him. He rushed to the empty seat on Azula’s left-hand side. 

“Now that we’re all prepared, let’s begin,” said a man with a white moustache. 

“Let’s,” said Azula.

Zuko expected the meeting to go something like this: the board would talk a bit about the impact of Ozai’s conviction on the company’s bottom line, he would agree with whatever they told him, and then he would ask for someone to take the shares off his hands so he could go back to comfortable anonymity. 

He was wrong. 

“Frankly this blatant display of nepotism is unseemly,” a woman with a blue blouse said. 

“I agree, Reyall can’t afford to have the children of that embezzler in the same position to bleed us dry,” a red-haired man said.

Zuko felt his ears get warm. It’s not like he asked to be dragged into all of this. He didn’t know how to say what he meant properly so he stayed quiet. Azula was stone still in her seat. Her expression hadn’t changed from that disconnected smirk. 

“Furthermore,” white moustache man said, “The majority shareholder cannot be some irresponsible teenager,” he gestured directly towards Zuko, “It’s laughable.”

Zuko shifted in his seat. His pants clung damply to his legs, still wet from the car fiasco. He agreed that this scenario was bad and he shouldn’t have been in this position in the first place. He didn’t understand why they had to be so blunt about it.

“With the chairperson election next week, I suggest we reallocate the shares,” the man in the grey suit speaking nodded to Zuko, “with compensation, of course. With the Ba Sing Se project in the works, I think it would be unwise to let word of this… mistake… get out.”

“Is that so,” Azula said slowly. Zuko glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. The smirk was still there, but there was a chip of ice in her stare. He recognized that look from when they were kids. It usually followed with a toy car chucked at his head. 

“Even if you were able to override the board, Azula, I’m sure even you can comprehend why it is better for all of us to redistribute the shares. He seems barely fit to run a Wendys, let alone pilot a multi-billion dollar venture,” a younger man with a black tie said. 

Zuko felt a flush creep up his neck. He stared down at the table, placing his shaking hands in his lap. He shouldn’t have come. He should have emailed or pretended the whole thing wasn’t happening to him. 

“I may not be able to override you alarmists myself, but you are talking to your majority shareholder, show some respect,” Azula said in a deceptively passive tone. Zuko looked at her with wide eyes. She’d never defended him, even when he took the weight of his father’s... disappointments. “You all may not like the fact that we are here. You may not like the fact that the previous chairman has put us on the board without your blessing,” she spat the word, “But Zuko and I are here and we are going to bring Reyall through the next ten years better than our father ever could. You can stay to help, or I invite you to submit your letters of resignation.”

“I hardly think-” white moustache tried to say.

“Zuko will be keeping his shares and I will be looking forward to the election next week,” Azula stated. Zuko started in his seat. He was doing what?

“Azula, wait-”

“If that’s all,” she cut him off with a glare, “I will be seeing Zuko into his office. Enjoy your day.”

Azula stood, subtly dragging Zuko up with her by the elbow. No one else moved. The red haired board member looked a bit sick. Azula practically dragged Zuko out of the room. The door slid shut behind them. 

“What the hell Azula?” Zuko demanded. 

“Not here Zuzu,” she hissed. Zuko noticed a few heads pop above the cubicles to see what the fuss was about. 

Azula let go of his elbow but jerked her head for him to follow. They walked in silence down a carpeted hall to a private office. Azula waved her key card in front of the scanner and pushed the door open after a beep.

The office was filled with light. The floor to ceiling windows faced south over the grey city. Rain trailed across the glass. The room itself had one large desk and a few empty shelves. 

Azula kicked off her heels as if they burned her and sat in the chair behind the desk. 

“I have to say, that was easier than I thought it would be,” she said casually. Zuko threw his hands in the air.

“What the fuck is going on Azula? I came to get myself out of this, why did you say I’m keeping the shares? I don’t even really know what shares are!” he practically yelled.

A little tug in his veins let him know that his soulmate was trying to get his attention. A steady stream of calm and reassurance followed. Zuko didn’t want to calm down though, he felt like he should be angry.

“I’m doing this for our family, Zu. If you gave it all away you’d be back to where you were last week and I’d be tooth-and-claw-ing around here just to keep a foot in the door.”

“What do you mean last week? Have you been keeping tabs on me?” Zuko demanded. His skin crawled to think of his father reading through his credit bills. 

Azula flipped her hair over her shoulder, “Not really. I just wanted to know you weren’t dead. You’re still my brother you know.”

“What does that even mean anymore? Why am I here?” Zuko’s voice shook. Azula gave him an exasperated look.

“Just relax, it’s not as bad as you’re making it out to be. Dad gave his voting shares to you. Sure, it was supposed to be temporary to help the case, but after he got booked, it’s better than move I could have made. Pretty much, the shares allow you to dictate all of the board decisions by yourself. I’ve been on the board as director of consumer affairs for more than a year now, so I can help you figure out what to do on the business side and you get to sit back and let the money roll in,” she smiled at him fondly. It looked too big on her face. “You’re living the dream now. You can do whatever you want for the rest of your life, as long as you show your face here every once in a while.”

“Director of consumer affairs sounds like you made it up.”

“I did.”

“I don’t get why dad didn’t just transfer the shares to you,” Zuko said, running a hand through his hair. It was getting too long again. 

“Because,” she said, a bit condescendingly, “the election for chairperson is next week. It’s not classy to elect myself, especially after the whole corruption scandal. But you can put me in the position to run the company properly. I’ll do it right this time, better than he did, like I said.”

“Isn’t what you want me to do just as bad as him? The board was right, I’m not the right person for this,” Zuko said. The board meeting was still fresh in his mind. Azula shook her head.

“No. You are not running away from this too Zuko,” her tone softened, “Dad isn’t here, won’t be for at least a few years. We can do this our way. I’ll help you,” her eyes brightened and she leaned across the desk to punch a few numbers in the landline keypad. She put the phone to her ear but still spoke to Zuko, “We’ll all help you.”

The phone rang once.

Azula said, “Drop by his office, he’s ready.”

“Who’s that?” Zuko asked. He didn’t know how much more of Azula’s particular brand of ‘helping’ he could handle today. Going home to nap and pretend this all never happened seemed like a good plan to him. 

“A special surprise,” she said, “I can’t be around to clean up your messes 24/7 so I brought on a personal assistant for you.”

Zuko rubbed a hand across his face, “I don’t need an assistant if I’m doing nothing anyway.”

The scanner beeped and the door opened.

Into the grey light of the office, like a living reminder of all his regrets, walked Mai. 

Zuko took in her blunt bangs and her black dress. The corner of her mouth twitched in greeting.

“Hey, Zuko, long time.”

Zuko fell back on his instincts; he ran. 

**************

_Now_

Zuko felt completely ridiculous holding the coffee tray in one hand and punching buttons on the elevator door. 

It wasn’t really the getting of the coffee that bothered him, but considering the context, he had no idea why he was doing this. The intern guy he hit with his car didn’t know him. He really could have just left. 

The other end of his bond was quiet, a steady thrum of concentration, the feeling of his soulmate somewhere engrossed in their work. There was a tone of excitement with the focus, but it wasn’t unusual. Zuko got the sense that his soulmate really liked their work.

Zuko was glad that even if his day, possibly life, had gone to shit, that his soulmate was getting on just fine. The elevator door opened to the twentieth floor. 

The office doors across from the elevators were glass so Zuko waited for a moment, trying to see the intern from before. A few stylishly dressed people walked from one glass room to another. A man with round glasses gave Zuko a weird look.

Maybe he could just drop the tray inside the door and get out of this cursed building. The longer he stayed, the longer his sister’s bloodhound instincts would track him down with Mai at her side. Zuko planned to take a long shower, maybe cry a bit, and unpack the day in the privacy of his home. And wash his shirt. 

He spotted a familiar ponytail and set of shoulders. The intern seemed to laugh when he noticed Zuko standing in the doorway. A little jolt ran through his bond. Zuko almost smiled back, until he caught the urge coming through the bond. No, he was not going to smile at the cocky guy who coerced him into more potential public embarrassment.

“You know, I was just about to go get it myself,” the guy said, opening the door to take the tray from Zuko. 

Zuko looked to the ceiling for patience, “The line was fucking long, okay? I had to wait like fifteen minutes to order.”

The guy put his hand to his chest in mock offense. Zuko tried not to notice what a big hand and what a nice chest. He failed.

“Someone’s testy today. Woke up on the wrong side of the Scrooge McDuck pile of cash?”

“I said you can use my money if you need-”

The guy stepped into the hall and closed the glass door behind him quickly, “We’ve established that you talk about money to compensate, it’s more about the principle of the thing.”

Zuko sputtered, “I am not compensa-”

“My tire’s flat, by the way. Since we’re here chatting anyway.”

Zuko looked down at his coffee stained shirt. He felt awful. He didn’t realize he was anticipating a flow of reassurance through the bond until it wasn’t there. Was his soulmate okay? It wasn't like them to leave him to spiral.

“Jeez, it’ll get fixed, don’t get weird. I just have to walk home with the bike later,” the guy waved his free hand around as he spoke. Zuko tried not to find it charming. He failed. 

“I can give you a ride,” Zuko shut his mouth with a click. Why did he say that? 

The guy laughed in a startled kind of way, “No thanks, Zuhcko.”

“It’s Zue-ko. How do you know my name?” Zuko took a step back. There were too many fake friends on the playground, too many first meetings gone sour by his full name, to not be wary of this guy all of the sudden knowing it. 

“Okay so first it’s ‘hey rando, I’m literally begging for you to take my money’ and now it’s ‘my personal information is for the government to know and you to find out’?”

Zuko rubbed a hand through his hair. Right. He had written his full name on the piece of paper earlier. Clearly his brain was goo from this dumpster fire of a day. It was only eleven AM. 

“Sorry, sorry,” Zuko sighed defeatedly, “It’s been a shit day, month really.”

“Been there. Didn’t hit anyone with my car, though,” the guy said sarcastically. Zuko did not resist the urge to roll his eyes. It was getting into beating a dead horse territory. 

“You should give me your name so I know what to yell,” Zuko noticed the innuendo after he said it and rushed to finish, “when you throw coffee at me next time.”

There was a strange little fizzle in his bond. It reminded him of when he’d had a crush on Mai years ago and was afraid to talk to her. This felt a bit different than that, less jittery, more eager. Was his soulmate… attracted to somebody? Jealousy settled like a pit in Zuko’s stomach. He would have to unpack that later though, with the rest of the shitstorm.

“I’m Sokka,” the guy said with a wolfish grin, “and if I’m honest Zuko, based on this morning, I hope there isn’t a next time.”

Zuko was stunned for a moment, then he laughed with his full chest, “Alright Sokka, in that case, have a nice life.”

Sokka did a mock salute as he backed into the office with the coffee. 

Zuko realized later when he got home, that he hadn’t thought about his soulmate for the whole drive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise more characters will show up soon! Just have to establish our mains ;)


	4. Other Ways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko has a weird dream. Katara and Aang tell Sokka how they really feel. Mai stops by to chat.

Zuko dreamt that night that he was in a field. The grasses tickled the sides of his exposed ankles as he walked. It was a wide expanse of long yellowing grass and purple flowers on green stocks. The sun sat low in the sky, casting every shadow long and every surface orange. Zuko couldn’t tell if it was just about to be morning or night.

He was looking for something. Zuko’s feet were bare and the trousers he wore were rolled up at the calves. He looked down and saw that he was wearing some kind of billowy shirt which tied up over the chest. A heaviness pulled his head from the back and a brush of hair moved along his shoulder blades as he turned his head. There was a wicker basket on his arm… and he was pretty sure he had breasts. That was a first for a dream.

It was strange, but he didn’t feel strange. It was like he was a passenger. He reached the centre of the field. The grass was short here, exposing low shrubs covering the ground.

He bent low and lifted the leaf of one of the shrubs. Beneath the leaf was a small cluster of red berries. They looked like the strawberries from the grocery store, but a quarter of the size. He plucked them gently and placed them into the basket. The sweet smell made him smile to himself. He moved to the next green shrub.

Muted thumping carried across the field. While passenger Zuko would have guessed it to be helicopter blades, in the dream, he knew right away that it was hoofbeats. Instead of shrinking down to watch through the grass, Zuko stood tall and shielded his eyes from the slanting sun.

A figure approached from the edge of the field. A man on a white and brown spotted horse cantered towards Zuko. The man noticed Zuko and dug his heels into the side of the horse. The horse surged into a gallop, hoofbeats pounding faster through the still air. 

Zuko felt a little flare in the bond. It wasn’t a huge jolt or shock, but more of a gleam of _something_. He didn't usually feel his soul bond this strongly when he was asleep. Sometimes if he had a nightmare, especially when he was a teenager, he would feel a distant soothing through the bond. Nothing like this clear sense of recognition and… love.

Zuko crossed his arms as the rider drew the horse to a stop beside him. The rider’s head was surrounded by a golden halo from the sun behind. Zuko couldn’t make out his features.

“You’re going to sprain her ankle if you keep doing that,” Zuko said. His own voice was high and clear, not like the low rasping that usually came out of his mouth. 

The rider laughed and Zuko felt his own mirth multiplied by that coming through the bond. “She’s smart enough not to trip, aren’t you sugar,” the rider pet the neck of the horse fondly. His voice was unfamiliar, and also like the back of Zuko’s hand. 

“Well I just started, you’re going to have to wait to sweep me off my feet, love,” Zuko said. Passenger Zuko didn’t think he’d ever talked like that to anyone.

“She needs a break anyway,” the rider said, sliding off the horse easily. The horse wandered over to the longer grass, taking a mouthful through its bridle. 

Zuko could see the rider more clearly now. He was lean and moved gracefully. His hair was the same colour of the wheat, falling in waves to his chin. His face was soft and kind. He wore an outfit similar to Zuko’s, this time with soft leather boots and a brown vest. Zuko got the sense that he had known him for a long time. 

“Are you just going to stand there and look handsome?” Zuko teased. 

The rider took two long strides towards him and lifted Zuko from the ground, spinning in a circle. Zuko laughed like a high peal of bells. He must not have been all that heavy in this dream. The rider kissed him once on each cheekbone as he lowered Zuko back down. He lingered longer on the left side, the side where the scar marked Zuko's skin in the waking world.

“What did I say about the sweeping of feet?” Zuko chided. 

The rider grinned without remorse, “I just couldn’t resist, sweetness.”

This was a really weird dream. 

“Well if you want to get home before dark, you’re going to have to let me go,” Zuko said through a soft smile, placing his hands on the rider’s on his sides. 

The rider pecked his cheek again, “Never.”

Zuko’s gaze flicked down to the rider’s chest. Through the open laces of his shirt, Zuko saw a splotch of discoloured skin. It was a red stain of a curling flame with ash rising towards his shoulder. 

Zuko’s eyes flew open.

He stared at the dim plane of his bedroom ceiling. A shaft of light from the street glowed orange through the gloom like a poor imitation of the sunlight in the field.

Right away, Zuko felt his bond offering him a glimpse at his soulmate’s emotions. By some coincidence, his soulmate felt the exact same twist of confusion and ache of longing.

***************

Sokka wandered out to the kitchen well into the morning. It was the weekend and he intended to eat a massive breakfast, then get back to his drafts. His weird dream about horses or something made him feel disoriented and groggy.

Katara sat at the island in the kitchen flipping through a textbook and absentmindedly chewing on some french toast. Her hair was bound back in three braids today.

“What do the book learning words tell you today?” he asked, opening the fridge. 

Katara hummed from her seat, “If you murder someone, you really have to stop sleeping with their husband.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Please do.”

The front door creaked open loudly. Sokka paused his perusal of the food, or lack thereof, in the fridge.

“Katara?” Aang called into the apartment. Sokka let out a breath. Just Aang. 

“Yeah?” she said, not looking up from her reading.

Aang, in a denim jacket and orange joggers, rounded the corner, “You guys really have to stop leaving the door open.”

Katara looked up from her books to glare at Sokka. Sokka lifted the milk and bread in defense, “I was gonna lock it after I took out the garbage!”

“Well that doesn’t help if you take out the garbage in twelve hours.”

“Well I’d take out the garbage earlier if you’d stop making me sort it for soft plastics and compost!”

“Well you wouldn’t have to do that if you sorted it in the first place, like a responsible adult!”

“Literally no one else does compost in this whole building!”

“Do you guys want me to take out the garbage?” Aang asked.

“No,” Katara and Sokka replied in unison. At a stalemate, Sokka made a gross face at Katara which she returned. 

Sokka started whipping up his breakfast. Maybe he’d have french toast too. He’d make a few extra for Aang too, he always wolfed down whatever Sokka offered.

“Are you doing the Trinity case readings?” Aang asked. Sokka heard the sound of a chair scraping over linoleum and textbooks thumping on the counter.

“Yeah,” said Katara, “Not exactly what I thought I would be memorizing for environmental law, but I guess we all have to start somewhere.”

“At least professor Iroh slides in as much enviro law as he can into the corporate law section,” Aang said brightly, “I hear the full enviro courses he teaches are actually really cool.”

“Yeah, I really want to get the practicum spot with his organization next semester,” Katara said. Sokka was only half listening. When they talked about school and all the social justice causes they followed, they could go for hours before getting back to topics where Sokka could weigh in. 

“I heard they did a ton of work to litigate against Reyall for the peat marshes out by the lake. They were gonna make it condos or something,” said Aang. 

Something about that name tickled the back of Sokka’s mind. He flipped the french toast in the pan.

“Did you say Reyall?” he asked. 

Katara kept reading, “Yeah, why?” said Aang.

“I think their offices are in the same building as mine.”

“Really? Did you hear about their chairman, Ozai Pyre?” Katara said, “He went to jail for embezzlement, like, last week.”

Sokka plated the french toast, sliding one plate to Aang who gave him a gap-toothed smile.

“That’s wild. I’m glad some of these guys are getting caught though,” said Sokka.

Katara rolled her eyes, “It’s all a power play. For those kinds of people, they only get caught if their friends want them to. I heard his son’s in charge now. I bet he’ll be in jail next to his dad as soon as his goodwill runs out with the board.”

“Wait, did you say Pyre?”

“Yeah.”

“Holy shit.”

“What?” Katara asked, eyes narrowing. Sokka swallowed a mouth full of french toast.

“You know the guy who hit me with his car and then tripped me?”

“The one you said ‘was too hot to be nice’?” Aang asked. 

“That was off the record Aang!” Sokka’s voice rose an octave.

“What about him?” demanded Katara.

“I think he’s that guy’s son,” said Sokka. Aang dropped his fork. Katara’s mouth popped open. 

“No. Way,” said Katara.

“Was he really that rude?” said Aang.

“Yes way,” Sokka replied, “And after the three times we talked, hitting me with his car seems really on brand for him.”

“Do you think he’s going to be around a lot more since he’s taking over the company?” asked Aang.

Sokka frowned, “He seemed like he was trying to get out of there pretty quick.”

“But that’s how the class system works, it exists to protect people like him at the expense of people like us,” said Katara, “It would be insane for him to step down, even if his father’s in jail.”

Thinking about how frantic and upset Zuko had been yesterday, it didn’t really sit right with Sokka that his dad was in jail and he was taking over something so huge and terrible. But then again, Sokka didn’t really know him at all.

“So maybe you’ll be seeing him in court when you become some badass environmental lawyer,” Sokka joked, “Should I wear tank tops to the trials to get him to slip up?”

Katara snorted at his big show of flexing his arms. Aang, scrawny as ever, watched in awe. 

“I still don’t get how you can find anyone attractive with the whole,” Aang gestured to his chest, “soulmate thing.”

Sokka grinned, “Just because I’m ‘sposed to end up with someone, doesn’t mean I don’t get some practice along the way.”

“That’s gross, Sokka,” scolded Katara. Sokka shrugged.

“I guess I dated Yue for a while. I thought that I loved her, even. I dunno, I think when my person comes along, I’ll know it right away. I don’t think anyone would ever measure up.”

Sokka sent a little sliver of this feeling of his anticipation and appreciation to his soulmate. In his veins he felt a little tug and a brief swell of gratefulness back.

“I think it’s romantic,” said Aang. Sokka ignored the eyes Aang was making at Katara.

Katara chuckled, looking back down at her textbook, “I just can’t wait to meet whoever destiny decided could put up with you.”

Sokka couldn’t wait either.

**********

Zuko stared down at his laptop screen. 3,483,828 results for the search question “how to run a business”. He put his head in his hands and groaned.

He had two days to get a grip. Azula had texted him after he left yesterday to say she expected him to be in the office on Monday. He still didn’t know if he would show up. 

At least the car crash had turned out to be the least of his worries. He hadn’t received a text from Sokka or had any calls from any insurance companies so that was something. His bigger worries overshadowed it though. Could he really walk in the footsteps of his father and expect to get out in one piece? 

His father had always seemed so well prepared to Zuko. Ozai never panicked or faltered. Zuko knew he was too vulnerable, too new, to be half as ready as he needed to be. His father hadn’t given him any of his shrewdness either, just a bit of childhood trauma. Zuko absently passed a fingertip over his left temple. He had a short fuse like his father, but he was pretty sure that wasn’t what made Ozai so successful.

If Azula was serious about making all of the decisions and letting Zuko keep the shares in name only, he’d probably be fine. She was definitely cunning like their father, ruthless too, if the way she acted in that meeting was anything to go by. Zuko wondered again why he had to be involved at all.

He was getting by fine on his own. His school loan from Uncle Iroh would have lasted for another two months, and then… and then he would have hopefully been hired by a museum or a magazine to actually use his art history degree. The idea that he had been close to going back to his father because he hadn’t made it ‘out in the real world’ slithered around his mind like an eel. He’d never know now. No matter how hard he worked, it would never cancel out the fact that he had the ultimate leg up. 

He had looked up how much one of his shares was worth last night. The number made him want to throw up. He had over eight hundred thousand of them. 

Zuko was honestly frightened of how little he understood about all of it. He typed in another search question: “what can you use shares for”. The first article might as well have been ancient Greek. Actually, he could stumble his way through some ancient Greek from his classical studies courses. This was more like theoretical physics. The words ‘dividends’, ‘valuation’, and ‘P/E ratio’ swam in his vision.

His phone rang, cutting through the silence of his living room. He ignored it, instead standing to go make another cup of coffee. Maybe it would be easier to read the Financial Digest with chemically induced anxiety. He rolled his eyes at himself, who was he kidding?

As he stood waiting for his fossil of a coffee machine to spit out lukewarm water, he felt a surge of affection and excitement through his bond. His soulmate was looking forward to something, something good. It made Zuko smile so he focused on the gratefulness he felt towards his soulmate and tried not to think about his jealousy.

He’d been jealous of them before, but he knew it was wrong to be jealous of someone he was supposed to love for being so happy all of the time. He wondered what he would do when they got closer with whoever they were looking at yesterday. Would he be able to hide the loneliness then? He hoped so, for their sake. 

There was a knock at his door. Zuko cocked his head to the side. He wasn’t expecting anyone, no one really came to visit anyway. His duplex was in a residential area, a family neighbourhood. It could be the girl guides who’d come a few months ago to sell cookies.

Zuko walked down the hall and opened the door slowly.

Mai stood on his door step looking bored. Her black hair was pulled back in a low ponytail and her black sweater was frayed around her wrists. Zuko knew she’d have bought it like that from a designer. She was a bit taller and her gaze was a bit more critical. 

“M-mai.”

“Zuko.”

They stared at each other for a long moment. 

“Are you gonna let me in?” she said in her typical monotone. That hadn’t changed since high school. Zuko made his face go blank and stepped aside. Mai didn’t look at him as she passed. 

Mai walked directly to the living room and sat on Zuko’s ratty couch. Zuko settled uneasily on the chair across from her. When Zuko didn’t say anything, Mai took out her phone, tapping on the screen. 

Seeing her in person at the office had felt like being hit by a train. Now, Zuko felt more like he was dangling over the edge of a canyon on a thin rope. The quiet grew and grew until it was a deafening buzz in his ears punctuated by her tapping. 

Zuko’s guilt and anger and regret started to suffocate him. His soulmate’s naive concern winding through his veins practically broke his heart all over again. 

“I’m sorry,” he choked out, not daring to look up from his hands.

“I know,” said Mai, “we don’t have to do this, we can just start over.”

Tears blurred the corners of Zuko’s eyes, “How can you say that? After what I did?”

“I’m over it,” Mai said simply. Zuko clenched his hands together until they turned white.

“How? I used you to make my father think I didn’t care about my soulmate. I threatened to expose you when you found yours. I couldn’t let you be happy when I was so miserable,” he said shakily. His breath stuttered in and out of his lungs in gasps.

“I know. I was there.”

“Why aren’t you mad?” Zuko practically yelled at her, looking up finally. Mai lifted an eyebrow and pursed her lips.

“Do you want me to be mad?”

“Yes! No! I don’t know!” Zuko shouted. Tears ran hot down his face. 

“Too bad, I already forgave you,” Mai said flatly.

“You shouldn’t! I was just as bad as my father, I hurt you and you should hate me,” Zuko insisted. 

Mai leaned forward, intensity burning in her eyes, “You acted that way because you were scared, Zuko. Yeah, you did some shitty things, but you were practically fighting for your life back then. We all knew your father was a monster,” her gaze flicked over to his scar. He had forgotten that she was one of the few people who knew how he got it, “I’m here now because I care about you. Stop being dramatic so we can get to work.”

She said it like an order. The Mai he used to know never talked this much. He wondered what else had changed. Zuko took a shaky breath and swiped his tears away with his sleeve. He gathered the reassurance and composure coming through the bond like it was his own. 

“Okay,” said Zuko, “Okay. Where do we start?”


	5. Live and Let Die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka goes stargazing with his hunky boyfriend. Zuko meets Appa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have made it this far without listening to Royal Pain by the Eels, you may be missing out on a bumping disaster!Zuko anthem.

Sokka dreamt that he sat by a lake under a night sky. He had a notebook and pen in his hands. The pen was a feather with an ink pot balanced on a rock near his knee. Goosebumps ran over his arms which were less hairy than he was used to. Passenger Sokka thought he might be a bit chubbier too, in this dream. 

He craned his neck up and saw the universe. 

Pinpricks of light scattered across the blue-blackness like flour over a counter. It didn’t feel empty. The moon was bright as a spotlight and green auroras wound their way through the clusters of light. It felt like there was so much that he could reach for and never touch. 

Like before, he was a passenger. He could sense the thoughts of this other Sokka like peering through a foggy window. This Sokka was trying to pick the right word for the vastness and fullness of space. Passenger Sokka didn’t think a word like that existed in English, but who’s to say what language he spoke in this dream. 

A figure sat down on the rock next to Sokka’s. Passenger Sokka nearly jumped out of his skin, but this version of himself simply turned to face them. 

The figure cracked their neck one way and then the other. They were the shape of a linebacker large man, but their face was difficult to see in the dim moonlight. A pleasant little buzz ran through the bond.

“Sunlight, what do you call the number of stars in the-”

Sokka’s words cut off when the man turned to face him. Even in the low light, he could see a rugged face with a layer of scruff over his cheeks. His skin was tan from the sun and his nose was a bit crooked. His dark hair brushed his shoulders and Sokka immediately knew what it felt like to run his hands through it as they rolled around in the literal hay.

But his rough good looks weren’t what stopped Sokka’s words in their tracks. A dark trickle of blood trailed from the corner of the man’s lip and his eyes were tight with pain. The pain was dull through the bond, but this Sokka knew it was because his soulmate was trying to hold it back.

He was cradling the man’s face in his hands in an instant, notebook forgotten among the rocks.

“Tell me,” Sokka demanded softly. The man huffed, smiling out of the uninjured corner of his mouth.

“The usual,” he said gruffly. 

Sokka frowned, “Do you think they’ll find us again? We just got here.”

“No,” the man said, “they’ve hired better mercenaries, but none as good as me. They took a bit longer to go down, that’s all.”

Sokka’s bond told him that there was more left unsaid, but he could guess. He and his soulmate were running and there was a cost to stay free, to stay together. 

“I’ll get the herbs and-”

“No,” the man said again,” just... stay.”

Sokka nodded quickly and tucked himself against his lover’s side. It felt like a blanket of protectiveness came through the bond, but it didn’t feel restrictive. More like his soulmate wanted him safe and happy no matter what, instead of any sense of ownership. An arm settled around his shoulders. Sokka’s goosebumps went away with the warmth. They looked out at the universe caught in the lake together. 

Sokka peeked up one more time, wanting to paint the profile of the man’s face outlined in stars on the back of his eyelids. He saw what he had missed before; a faint shape of a wave curling over the man’s temple and a splash of seafoam drifting into his hair. 

Sokka shut his eyes tight as he was ripped from the dream into the midnight of his own world. He could still see the profile outlined by stars on the back of his eyelids.

*********

Zuko laced his shoes slowly. He kind of hated running, but he had to go. His bond was full of static this morning. Zuko honestly couldn’t tell whether it was from himself or not. 

The dream about being a medieval mercenary had been flat-out upsetting. He could almost remember the feeling of smashing his elbow into someone’s face. The feeling of crushing someone’s windpipe with his boot. It had all been in the name of keeping his soulmate safe in the dream, but he hoped he never saw the life leave someone's eyes like that in this world. Zuko shuddered. He had to stop playing Assassin's Creed before bed. 

The run would help, he decided. He could tell when his soulmate exercised because the flow of endorphins always brightened his mood, even if he wasn’t doing the work himself. Zuko hoped that his run would clear up whatever weird tension he felt through the bond today. 

He popped his headphones in and headed out into the daylight.

Zuko’s route usually took him through his neighbourhood, out past the dog park, and back. It was just long enough to shake out whatever funk he was in when he chose to run. Almost the only time he didn’t need his soulmate to give him something good was while he was running.

He started slowly, warming up to the movement. It was a bright day, autumn biting on the wind rustling orange and yellow leaves along the sides of the road. If he aimed to crunch the fallen leaves as he ran, he would never admit it. 

There was a spark of worry in his veins, but he let it slide away. He would do his best to make his soulmate relax from whatever stress that was after his run. 

Zuko was just starting to breathe heavy when a white furry beast collided into his legs.

“Shit!” he tripped and just caught himself before he face-planted. A massive samoyed with a trailing brown leash trotted over to where Zuko had stopped with its tail wagging in the air. Zuko put his hands on his knees, trying to recover. The samoyed licked up the side of his face. “Seriously?” he said, wiping the slobber away. The samoyed just licked at his hands instead.

Zuko looked around the street, petting the dog’s head gingerly. There was no one in sight. Who could lose a dog this big?

“Appa!” someone called from around the corner. The dog turned towards the voice but didn’t move to follow. Its tail started wagging faster and it barked once. 

The person rounded the corner. Zuko felt a jolt of recognition in his veins so strong it hurt. Jogging towards him was the intern, Sokka. He was wearing only blue jeans and a grey t-shirt despite the nippy air. Zuko thought he looked more confident in casual clothes, more natural. The sunlight did him all kinds of favours too. Zuko scolded himself for having less than appropriate thoughts in an inappropriate situation, yet again.

“Let go of Appa!” Sokka called as he got closer. Zuko put his empty hands in the air and the dog started licking his leg. He must be salty from sweat. It was a little gross to think about.

“Is this your dog?” Zuko asked incredulously. Sokka marched up to him and snatched up the leash.

“It’s my friend’s dog, I’m just walking him,” Sokka said tersely. Zuko lowered his hands.

“Looks like he’s walking you,” he joked. The dog whined a bit as it was pulled away from Zuko’s leg.

Sokka glared at him, “He’s never bolted like that before.”

“Is he trained or something?”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

Zuko scratched the back of his neck, feeling off balance, “Sorry, I never had a dog growing up. I don’t get how they work.”

Sokka’s eyebrows rose, “You never had a dog? Were you allergic or- you know what, never mind. I’m gonna go.”

“My dad thought pets would be a distraction,” Zuko blurted before Sokka had fully turned away. He felt like smacking himself in the forehead. Overshare, much?

The staticky tension was back in his veins. The taunt feeling in the bond was laced with relief and something Zuko couldn’t quite put his finger on. 

“That sounds shitty,” Sokka said bluntly. Zuko shrugged.

“Always wanted one, though.”

The dog whined again and pulled on his leash. Sokka stumbled forward a few steps as if the dog was actually pulling him. And the dog was licking Zuko’s leg again.

He laughed self-consciously and pet the top of the dog’s fluffy white head, “I think he’d eat me if he could.”

The something Zuko hadn’t been able to identify in the bond earlier grew until he realized what it was; the attraction from the other day. It bubbled like a fizzy drink and pulled like a magnet. It was weird to feel it through the bond while he was fighting his own attraction to the man in front of him. Would his soulmate be hiding his jealousy just as much as Zuko tried to?

“I looked you up,” Sokka said out of nowhere. Zuko kept his attention on the dog.

“And?” he asked. He was pretty sure Sokka was going to tell him what he already knew.

“Your company sucks.”

Zuko snorted, “I haven’t heard that one before.”

“Like, no joke, there are entire organizations devoted to keeping you guys from fucking up the environment, or the medical system, or the economy,” Sokka said. He sounded like he was gearing up for a fight. Zuko had no doubt if Sokka had read even one article, he’d have an arsenal of points to make.

Zuko shrugged again, “Yeah I heard it's messed up bad in the past. I don’t really know what Reyall even does now, I'm just a figurehead.”

“How can you not know what your own company does?” Sokka demanded. Appa stopped licking Zuko’s leg, probably hearing the change in tone, “Do you know how much damage it does to real people?”

Zuko felt himself shift to defense and the bond pull tighter in response, “It’s not me doing that stuff. I just deal with the higher ups.”

Mai must have convinced him more than he thought, if he was already talking like he agreed to go along with Azula’s plan. He didn’t have a better explanation of his exact role in the company so he didn’t bother to elaborate.

Zuko could almost feel Sokka’s frustration building in his shoulders by the way they tensed up. Zuko himself couldn’t help but tense up to match. 

“What do you think ‘higher ups’ even do? Don’t make me quote spiderman at you,” Sokka said patronizingly.

Zuko boiled over.

“I’m not your friend, don’t lecture me. And yes I know how much responsibility I have because my life is a fucking nightmare, so just mind your business and leave me alone!”

Sokka had the decency to look taken aback. Zuko didn’t think this conversation would go anywhere nice from here, so he shoved in his headphones and stepped back into his run.

With every step he took, Zuko couldn’t escape the feeling of his soulmate probing the bond, wondering if he was okay and feeling hurt for themselves. He ran until his lungs burned as much as his words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just in case anyone is wondering:
> 
> the marks are the same, but Zuko + Sokka interpret them differently
> 
> the dreams are moments from their past lives
> 
> no they are not paying attention ಥ_ಥ


	6. The Joker and the Thief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka: (ʘ‿ʘ)  
> Zuko: ಠ_ಥ

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit longer, but I really wanted to pick things up a bit. See you at the end notes!

Sokka erased the line with a bit more force than necessary. Bits of the eraser rolled off the drafting table and collected at his feet. He couldn’t make the vision in his head come out right. The lines slanted and stopped short of where he wanted them to go. 

Exhaustion crept in at the edges of his vision. He hadn’t been sleeping well again. Not only was his soulmate a mess of nerves this morning, but Sokka was also really bothered by his run-in with Zuko over the weekend. 

He thumbed over the slip of paper in his pocket. Sokka told himself that he took it with him everywhere just in case he suddenly needed to get his bike repaired and needed to call Zuko. Maybe he should text Zuko and apologize for sticking his nose where it didn’t belong. Would that be weird? Yeah, probably. 

He’d had another dream last night. In this one, he’d been a nun in a convent being wooed by a soldier with the wave mark on his temple. He was pretty sure he spoke Spanish in the dream, but he’d understood everything that happened like it was translated directly in his brain. He’d never worn a dress in the waking world, but he remembered the swishy feeling of the fabric when nun-Sokka ran from the convent 

Sokka leaned on the edge of the table staring into the new draft of the third floor for the elementary school. He should probably get a sleep therapist or something. 

“Wakey, wakey snoozles,” Toph said. Sokka glanced over. Toph had her hands on the braille keyboard on her desk. Suki gave him a concerned look so he managed a half-smile.

“What’s up?” Sokka said.

“Were you planning on only putting one staff washroom and literally zero accessible washrooms on the second floor?” Toph said, crossing her arms.

Suki crossed her arms, mirroring Toph, “Seriously Sokka? That’s not gonna fly.”

Sokka blinked, “I must have missed those. I swear I have a checklist,” he shuffled around the papers on the table, finally producing the checklist for the second floor. There in black ink was the staff and accessible washroom with no check mark beside them. He groaned and looked at the ceiling. The white fluorescents did nothing to clear the fog in his brain.

“It’s fine,” said Toph, “I guess I’ll just piss on the floor.”

“No, sorry I’m just spacey today,” Sokka said, “Give me like twenty minutes and I’ll fix it.”

“What’s with you? You aren’t usually this sloppy,” Suki said, perceptive eyes roaming over Sokka’s posture. 

There was no point in lying, she always knew when he lied. “It’s my soulmate. It’s like I’m on a rollercoaster that I can’t get off. I’m not blaming them or anything, we all go through a rough time, but it’s never got to me like this before.”

Suki seemed to soften a bit. She’d met Sokka after the worst of his teen years, but she vaguely knew about how difficult it had been for him when he was younger. The three years after the soul bond had connected had been so terrible for his soulmate, Sokka had pretty much skipped his own teen angst. 

“Is it like before?” she asked quietly. Toph pretended to go back to work, but Sokka knew she was listening.

“No,” he shook his head, “I’m having all kinds of messed up dreams. I swear I slept like an hour last night because I can never go back to sleep after I wake up in the night.”

Suki considered it thoughtfully, “You know, I read somewhere that some people saw visions of their soulmate at the beginning of their relationship. I think the article said it was supposed to strengthen the bond or something.”

Sokka laughed. It sounded strained, even to himself, “That’d be helpful if they didn’t have a different face in all of the dreams. And besides, I think if I started our relationship, they wouldn’t be feeling like a crushed soda can right about now,” Sokka tapped his chest to emphasize the point.

“Can you help them, or like, I don’t know, mute them?”

“No!,” Sokka was surprised by how immediate and strong his reaction was. He lowered his voice, “No, I have to be there for them. I… I know it sounds dumb because I haven’t even met them, but I really care about them, I don’t want to leave them alone like this.”

“Who knew you were so mushy, big guy,” said Toph, propping one of her bare feet up on the desk. Hopefully none of their bosses would ‘pop in’ to check on them until Toph had her feet back in her shoes. Although, that usually only happened when she went for lunch. 

Sokka shrugged, unbothered, “Comes with the territory I guess.”

“Do you want me to look over the first floor again?” said Suki, eyeing the papers on the drafting table suspiciously. 

“Yeah,” said Toph, “At this rate there might not be doors in the kindergarten classrooms.”

Sokka wordlessly slid the draft closer to Suki. She was looking at him with that ‘no bullshit, Sokka’ look she had. 

“I’m fine, really,” he insisted, “Let’s just get this done so you can get back to picking the pretty flowers.”

He deserved the wack on his head that he got. 

*********

“Okay so we want to mine the Ba Sing Se nature preserve for copper because…?”

“Because, Zuko, it’s the responsible thing to do for this corporation. We made the land acquisition years ago, it’s unfair to our employees to let it go to waste.”

“Right. And this fits into the board meeting in five minutes because…?”

“Ugh! Seriously, I know Mai already explained it. This meeting is where the board elects the chairperson. I’m running on the claim that the Ba Sing Se project will give every one of them a fat bonus. Look,” Azula waited until Zuko met her gaze as they stood in his office waiting for the call to go to the board room, “it’s not the end of the world if you can’t figure this stuff out. Just don’t talk until they ask for your vote. You have the deciding vote anyway, anyone can see that there’s no point in challenging me. The Ba Sing Se deal is just to sweeten the pot.”

Mai checked her watch. She had been silently standing against the wall shoulder to shoulder with Azula’s personal assistant, Ty Lee, while Azula tried to make sure Zuko wouldn’t mess up her big moment. “It’s time,” Mai said flatly.

Azula nodded, brushed some invisible dust off of her gold trimmed suit, and walked out into the hall. Ty Lee, followed quickly on her heels with a flounce of her pink wide leg trousers. Zuko glanced down at his dress shoes, hoping they would sprout faces and start talking him through this.

“Zuko,” Mai said, “she’s gonna be mad if you’re late.”

Zuko knew this about his sister. He also knew that she hated to show her hand, even to him. He pushed his shaggy hair out of his eyes, he really should have done his own research about this project. 

No helping it now, he thought. He stepped into the hall. Mai shut the door behind him.

“Is this the right thing, Mai?” he asked her, voice cracking over her name.

Her face stayed blank except for the twitch of her eyebrow, “It’s the only thing right now, Zuko.”

Zuko frowned. He knew he didn’t really have a choice when he’d come this far, when he’d put himself at the mercy of his sister. He started walking towards the boardroom, hyper-aware of the time his sister had been waiting. 

Mai walked close behind him, steps eerily silent in her chunky black heels. Just before they rounded the last corner, she caught his arm. Zuko glanced around, wondering if anyone was watching. They were alone in the hall. Mai turned so the security camera was at her back. 

“Zuko, just because this is the only thing to do right now, doesn’t mean this will always be the only thing. You should be worried about the consequences, you should be worried about the choices you make. This isn’t a good place,” she said at a whisper. A knot of anxiety pulled tight in his stomach, “But you won’t get what you need today, at least not in that room. So just do what Azula needs now, and do the right thing at the right time.”

She let him go and stepped back abruptly. An intern walked towards them with a tray of coffee. Zuko felt a weird flash of disappointment, he’d thought for a moment it was his intern. But the hair was buzzed short and the face was too long. Wait. His intern? Since when did he get possessive over nosey strangers who made his life worse at every turn? His brain offered a response before he could stop the thought; since they looked and laughed like Sokka.

Mai jerked her head towards the conference room. Zuko ducked his head at her and nearly scurried into the board meeting. 

The chair beside Azula was once again the only empty spot. Zuko didn’t look at any of the other board members as he went to sit. He didn’t want to see their opinion of him written clearly on their faces. 

“Excellent,” the white moustache man said, “Let’s get started.” Zuko felt bad that Mai’s lesson on their name had totally slipped his mind under the influence of his social anxiety. 

Azula smiled like a viper, “Let’s.”

In retrospect, the meeting probably lasted about twenty minutes. The board discussed an upcoming merger which Zuko didn’t understand and a cryptocurrency security breach which Zuko also didn’t understand. Then it was time to vote. 

The vote went pretty seamlessly, all things considered. Each member wrote a name on a slip of paper. A hired moderator came in to count the voting shares, announced the winner, and left.

Azula smiled the most genuine smile Zuko had ever seen on her face. It reminded Zuko of when she used to beat him at monopoly. But this time he couldn’t flip the board in rage and stomp off to his room. It felt good to be on her side, the winning side, for once. 

The woman in a blue blazer at the other end of the table dropped her pen loudly after the announcement. A board member with salt and pepper hair shook his head in disapproval. Zuko wondered if anyone else had written her name.

“Well if that’s everything,” Azula said briskly, gathering up her notepad and pen. No one responded. Zuko’s hands were shaking, but he didn’t have anything to pick up anyway.

Zuko didn’t have to wait for her to drag him out of the room, he stood with her and turned his back on the board. 

He didn’t breathe until his office door clicked shut.

“That fun?” Mai asked dryly. She sat at his desk fiddling with a new desktop computer.

Zuko laughed, “Those poor people. I bet some of them wanted to actually have a say.”

Mai gave him a sarcastic look, “When has anyone got a say with Azula?”

“Fair point,” said Zuko, “They should have quit when dad put her in there. God, I think my soulmate is gonna think I joined the military or something, I’m about to have a nervous breakdown.”

Zuko tensed up and looked at Mai with apprehension. They hadn’t talked about soulmates since he threatened to out her mark to her parents if she didn’t stay with him. It wasn’t a fond memory.

Mai leaned back in her chair, “It’s okay. My soulmate stubbed her toe this morning and almost made me hit delete on an important file.”

“Her?” 

“Yeah,” Mai said with a little smile, “You actually met her this morning.”

“You’re soulmate is Ty Lee?” Zuko asked skeptically. Azula’s assistant had been dressed in white and pink, high fashion, but girly. She laughed at everything Azula said like it was her job. Maybe it was her job. Zuko hadn’t even said hello to her, too caught up in his own misgivings about voting Azula into even more power. He’d probably made a really bad first impression.

“They say opposites attract,” Mai said, “Can’t say the universe doesn’t have a sense of humour.”

Images of Sokka talking with his hands, Sokka flirting with the oldest barista, Sokka telling him off with a grin, flashed rapidfire through his head. He’d never met someone so different from himself, someone who he’d wanted even when they were telling him things he didn’t want to hear. 

“Yeah,” Zuko said, “I guess it does.”

“Now we have to actually get some stuff done today,” Mai said with a sigh, “Come over here, I’ll show you how the email works.”

The rest of the work day passed in easy company with Mai. The desktop setup reminded Zuko of his university email. He hadn’t checked that inbox in months, but he assumed it would be full of alumni donation asks, especially since he showed up at Reyall. 

Mai showed him how the calendar function worked with the app she’d set up for him on the weekend. There was a full directory of contacts in the computer, along with descriptions like “french manicure” and “black hair” that Mai custom made for him. 

By the end of the day, Zuko felt like he could at least convincingly pretend to be doing work for the one day a week Azula mandated he come to the office. 

He felt it on his way down to the parking garage. The elevator doors closed and panic began to burn in his veins like acid. As the elevator dropped, the feeling rose. Zuko’s breath came out in quick gasps and he could feel his soulmate trying to work an angle of positivity in somewhere, but there just wasn’t space. 

There were other people in the elevator so it took longer, too long, than he thought to reach the lower levels. Zuko reached in his mind for some sliver of peace to offer. He thought of the way Azula had smiled when she’d won the chairperson position, but that didn’t give him comfort. Instead, he thought of the dream in the field, the feeling of his soulmate rushing to meet him in the glow of the sunset. The panic on the other end of the bond dulled a bit.

The elevator doors opened and Zuko practically sprinted out into the parking garage in the general direction of his car. He didn’t know what he would do when he got there, but standing still was too painful. Where did he park? People had to stop buying silver sedans, it was getting kind of ridiculous at this point.

He spun to check the other side of the garage and-

Zuko slammed into somebody’s chest. 

His car keys skittered across the ground and he heard the awful crack of the person’s phone hitting the concrete.

“Hey, watch it!” the voice said. It felt out of context, but also like the back of Zuko’s hand. 

He moved back a step, receiving the jolt of recognition in his veins he half-expected at this point. Sokka. 

Zuko saw that Sokka was breathing heavy and his hands were shaking. He hadn’t gone to pick up his phone, too distracted by something else.

“Are you okay?” Zuko asked. Sokka snapped out of whatever trance he was in, bending to scoop up his phone and Zuko’s keys which had slid closer to him. 

“Yeah,” Sokka tossed Zuko his keys, “Are you stalking me or something?”

Zuko frowned, “I could ask you the same question.”

Sokka waved his hands dismissively and Zuko tried not to feel kind of hurt, “I’ve got bigger fish to fry, big shot. Someone fucking stole my bike!”

“Really?” Zuko had figured Sokka’s bike was pretty important to him considering how much he brought up Zuko hitting it. Had it really only been four days since then?

“Yeah! Who the hell steals a commuter bike with worn out breaks? I swear there are tons of nice road bikes in the bike cage.”

“Why would _you_ want a bike with worn out breaks?”

Sokka crossed his arms, “Well, I was about to get them fixed. Don’t give me that look, I was!”

“Are you going to file a police report?” Zuko asked. The panic in the bond was more of a background sting now and he was glad that his soulmate was sorting it out. 

“Nah, they only actually look for stuff if it's worth a lot. My bike's not worth much anymore, but I actually needed it.”

They looked at each other for a moment. 

“That’s rough, buddy,” said Zuko. He rubbed the back of his neck, at a loss of what else to say. 

Zuko felt the fizzy tugging feeling of attraction again. Sokka smiled like Zuko said something actually funny and Zuko felt the fizzy tugging feeling in his own heart, not just in the bond.

“Anyway,” Sokka continued, “I really have to bus now, it’s going to take like six hours.”

Sokka laughed bitterly and Zuko found himself speaking before thinking yet again, “Do you want a ride? I honestly don’t mind. You can stay on the phone with someone the whole time if you think I’m going to abduct you or something.”

Sokka squinted at him, seeming to work through something in his head. Zuko put his hands in his pockets, felt weird about it, then took them back out. 

“Okay,” Sokka said slowly, “But if you try anything, just know that my sister is actually Liam Neeson from Taken in mom jeans.”

Zuko laughed at the image, “And my sister is dracula in heels, they’d get along great.”

Zuko clicked the lock on his keys and followed the beep to one of the silver sedans on the back wall.

“Let’s go, we’ll miss the worst traffic if we hurry.”

*********

They did not miss the worst traffic. Actually, Sokka was pretty sure they had timed it perfectly to be in the very centre of downtown at the zenith of rush hour. 

At first he had felt suspicious of Mr. “Leave Me Alone” offering him a ride. But Sokka found that he felt pretty okay, all things considered. In the grand scheme of things, the bike thievery would only set him back a couple hundred dollars. He had an emergency fund for a reason. He just really really didn’t like to use it, knowing that he and Katara were only three bad months from being back with gran. 

Sokka wondered if Zuko had ever been three bad months away from any real world problems. He didn’t ask though, this careful truce felt too shaky to go right for the deep stuff. Instead, he turned on the radio. 

“Is this what you listen to?” Sokka asked dubiously. The sound of opera filled the car. Sokka didn’t know if opera was in german, or what, but he definitely had no idea what they were saying. 

Zuko shrugged, “It’s intellectual.”

Sokka almost choked, he laughed so hard, “That has got to be the most pretentious thing anyone has ever said to me. Tell me more, music man.”

Zuko had the decency to look sheepish, “It’s very complex and dynamic.”

“Now you’re just saying shit, isn’t all music dynamic?”

Zuko side eyed him, keeping his head turned towards the road. Sokka couldn’t see his scar from this side. Zuko was just as pretty from this angle, really, but it didn’t feel like Zuko. He had that choppy black hair and those eyes like honey, but Sokka thought the scar was really striking too. He had a bizarre urge to reach out and turn Zuko’s face towards him so he could look at the whole thing all at once. But that was fucking dangerous because Zuko was driving. And because it was Zuko. 

“Opera just… it’s so emotive, the stories are so human and so fantastic at the same time,” Zuko explained.

“You really aren’t helping your case. Here,” Sokka scrolled through the radio stations until he found what he was looking for, “I’ll show you emotive.”

“I don’t think-”

“Better lock them doors and TURN THEM LIGHTS DOWN LOOWWWW,” Sokka crooned along with the country song. The look of anguish on Zuko’s face was absolutely hilarious to Sokka and he stopped singing because he was cackling like a crow. He had to look out the window for a few blocks because every time he looked back at Zuko, trying very hard to tolerate the country radio, he just started laughing all over again. 

Zuko subtly shifted the volume down on the steering wheel controls. Sokka wiped at his eyes, still hiccuping from his laughing fit.

“Sorry man, you were totally asking for it,” he explained. A little smile flitted across Zuko’s mouth and Sokka felt another bizarre urge to do anything he could to keep it there for longer. Well maybe not bizarre, he was beginning to come to terms with the fact that he was crushing hard on a morally grey money man. With every passing second in the car, the less that seemed to matter. 

“I guess so. Do you really like that kind of music?”

“Yeah, it’s got the best lyrics. Country is the music of the people, you listen to the music of the bourgeoisie.”

“I think you might be the only person who knows I listen to opera,” Zuko said in a surprised tone.

Sokka cocked to his head, “Why’s that? We literally just met.”

Zuko shrugged, “My father had us study opera when we were younger, but at soon as I turned fifteen, he decided that liking music was for women and artists and I should focus on more important things. I don’t think I’ve given anyone a ride since I got this car last year, to be honest.”

Sokka shifted his whole body to face Zuko and stare.

“What the fuck is wrong with your dad? I was going to tell you to let your freak flag fly, but this would be more like letting your regular person flag fly. Who doesn’t like music?”

Zuko did what seemed to be an impression of his father, “Successful people are driven and singular, Zuko, distractions will not be tolerated if you want to honour your family name.”

Sokka stared at him. “It’s good to know you’re a dick for a good reason. A dick with pre-programmed classism.”

“I’m not classist!” Zuko said loudly. Sokka was suddenly worried that he’d pushed him over the edge again. “I was living off of ramen and oatmeal for the last four years! I’m not rich, or I wasn’t, until like two weeks ago! Why do you think I drive such a shitty car?”

“Because it’s trendy?”

“Christ. I don’t want to argue with you about this anymore, there’s no point.”

“I do, it’s fun.”

Zuko glared at him and Sokka smiled widely and winked. A little shake went through Sokka’s bond, but he couldn’t pin down exactly what his soulmate was feeling. He sent a questioning feeling back but there was no response.

They were quiet for a minute, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. The song had shifted to a female artist, singing something about a love like Romeo and Juliet. It kind of reminded Sokka of his dream by the lake where his soulmate had bled for them. Star-crossed love didn’t seem as easy as the song made it out to be. 

“I’m sorry,” Sokka said. Zuko gave him a wary look. “I shouldn’t have tore into you like that, by the park.”

Zuko was quiet for a moment, and Sokka was irrationally worried he’d tell him to get out of the car. They were in bumper to bumper traffic now on the highway, it would be impossible to catch a bus from here.

“It’s fine,” Zuko said haltingly, “You were actually right. I have to be accountable for what Reyall does, for what I do. I just… wasn’t ready to think about it. It’s scary to have that much control, but also none at the same time,” Zuko admitted. 

Sokka’s eyebrows drew together. It made sense that Zuko was so sensitive about it if he only came into his position recently. 

“Why do you have none?”

Zuko adjusted his grip on the steering wheel, “My sister’s the only reason I’m not back home, searching for a job. She wants me to stay and run the business with her. I think I’m the only one on her side right now, but like you said, I don’t even know what most of the people there actually do.” Zuko seemed to realize something and whipped his head to stare at Sokka, “You’re not gonna like, sell this to the press or anything, right?”

Sokka grinned, “They’d probably give me like four dollars. ‘Reyall Mogul Having Self-Doubt and Moral Quandary’ doesn’t seem like news. I’ll tell you a secret if it makes you feel better though.”

Zuko narrowed his eyes, “I don’t need to feel better.”

“You do,” Sokka said confidently, “Okay, so you know how I get coffee as part of my glamorous interning duties?”

“Yeah.”

“Well sometimes, if the engineering coordinator is a dick to me or the other interns, I put milk in his coffee.”

“So?”

“He’s lactose intolerant.”

“Oh. Can’t you get fired for doing that?”

“See that’s the thing,” Sokka said conspiratorially, “He’s one of the lactose intolerant people who eats milk chocolate.”

“What?”

“So he’d never know if it was him or the coffee.”

“I think you might have too much free time.”

“Hey!” Sokka exclaimed defensively, “I work hard! I just have to do justice to those that deserve it.”

“Setting off someone’s allergies against their will is justice?”

“Well when you put it like that it doesn’t sound as cool.”

“Whatever you say, Sokka.”

They finally pulled off the highway into a residential area. Sokka directed Zuko towards his neighbourhood and to his street. They pulled to a stop outside of his apartment complex. 

Sokka didn’t get out of the car, right away. 

“Thanks for driving me, the bus really would have taken a million years.”

Zuko shifted in his seat, not looking directly at Sokka, “No problem, let me know if you need another ride. I guess you already have my number.”

Sokka almost reached for his pocket to make sure the slip of paper was still there. He should at least program it into his phone so he could stop carrying the paper around. He was bound to get caught in the rain sooner or later. 

“I just might take you up on that, we didn’t even get into complaining about our bosses,” Sokka joked, “That’s like a pillar of the carpool experience.”

The bond suddenly flared alive under Sokka’s skin. It was full of nervous energy, but the good kind, like his soulmate was excited to take a risk. Sokka didn’t get out of the car. He saw Zuko take his hands off the steering wheel and wipe them on his pants. What did he have to be nervous about? Although, he seemed like a pretty high-strung guy, maybe he just had super sweaty hands. 

“Well considering my sister is kind of my boss, I think I have a lot more material to go on,” Zuko said.

Sokka laughed, “You may have me beat there, but you don’t have the intern experience where everyone is your boss.”

Zuko was suddenly solemn, “No, I don’t.”

“Hey,” Sokka said, feeling a need to bring back Zuko’s smile, “I can boss you around if you’re missing out.”

Zuko didn’t smile. His eyes widened and his lips parted, “Wha-what?”

Sokka wanted to smack his forehead. That really sounded like a come-on, didn’t it. But was that such a bad thing? The worst that would happen if he actually told Zuko how he felt would probably be getting rejected and going to whine to Katara about how his soulmate still hadn’t shown up. His soul bond fluttered like the wings of a hummingbird. It was a weird sensation, his own nerves and his soulmate’s like two sides of the same coin. 

What the hell, Sokka thought, might as well rip off the bandaid. It’s not like he’d be ruining a lifelong friendship.

“Hey Zuko,” Sokka said, turning again to face the driver’s seat. 

“Y-yeah?” Zuko said. Sokka saw his Adam's apple bob. 

“Do you want to go to dinner with me?” Sokka asked simply. 

His bond lit up like fireworks. It was excitement and happiness and triumph. Then a sour note hid those feelings away. Sokka wanted to chase those feelings down the bond and pull them back. 

“Um,” Zuko said, “I have a soulmate, sorry.”

Sokka’s eyebrows rose. He didn’t say boyfriend or girlfriend or partner, but soulmate. What did that even mean? Was he with them now? Was it just an excuse?

“That’s alright, man,” Sokka said, trying not to sound too dejected. He opened the car door, “I’ll see you around. Try not to kill anyone on the way home.”

“Sokka,” Zuko called before the door shut. Sokka turned back. Zuko leaned over the stick shift in such an awkward and endearing way that Sokka had half a mind to get back in the car and convince him to reconsider.

“Yeah?”

“I would say yes, if I could,” Zuko said earnestly, “Really.”

Sokka smiled, even though it stung, “Okay. See you, Zuko.”

Sokka didn’t look back until he heard the car pull away. The longing in his veins matched his own, step for step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all your lovely comments! They're really motivating, even when you yell at Zukka for being dumb, because they really are in this one ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	7. Cat's in the Cradle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko is tried for witchcraft like the spooky bitch he is. Sokka has tea with Uncle Iroh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: non-graphic death in a flashback
> 
> Idiots to lovers plotline: go!

Zuko’s dream that night was the most vivid yet.

He stood somewhere high, wind cutting through the thin linen dress he wore, his blue-black hair lashed at his face. Heavy black chains bound his wrists and ankles, Zuko could barely lift his hands.

The sky was grey overhead, casting the rough sea below in black and white. This body knew it was the Celtic Sea, even though it could have been anywhere with vast water and a grassy clifftop.

He stood toe to toe with another woman. She was shorter than this version of him, with strawberry blonde hair loose around her collarbones. Her warm brown eyes, framed by pale lashes, shed no tears. 

The shock of recognition felt more terrible than it ever had before. Before? He had felt it before, though, not just in the dreams. But who-

“... and the punishment for bearing the devil’s mark is to be thrown into water bound and shackled,” a man in a wide brimmed hat was saying, “and she who is innocent, who walks in the Lord’s light, will be spared.”

The woman across from Zuko scoffed, “As if we could be spared by anything at all with these chains, not very righteous of you, sir.”

“We’ll see about that, satan spawn,” said the man with a sneer, “Now jump or be thrown.”

The posse of farmers and shepherds from the town stood just behind him. A few of them exchanged uneasy glances, but Zuko knew, just as this version of himself in this dream knew, that none would save them. They would push them both, if it came down to it.

“I’ll keep my dignity,” Zuko said, in a lilting voice. It was not the English he recognized, but he understood it just the same. He stepped to the edge of the cliff, feeling the space where grass fell away to air and sea spray. 

Cold fingers tangled with his, and he looked searchingly into the eyes of his soulmate. He didn’t have to see the mark to know. The chains around their wrists clinked together.

“We can still run, Nell,” Zuko said softly, “You might get away, I’d let them take me.” 

The other woman shook her head, “No more, darling. The sea wants us, I can feel it.”

Zuko felt for his bond, trying to see what she meant, but he found only calm resignation.

“So one last adventure?” he said. A tear trickled out of his eye, but he couldn’t lift his hands to wipe it away. 

“There’ll be many more for us yet,” the woman said, touching her forehead to Zuko’s, “Though, I will miss your clover eyes.”

Zuko clamped down on a sob, this version of himself wanted to stay composed through the end. Let the men be riddled with guilt for the good women they killed. 

“I love you,” he said, this Zuko would not allow their last words to shake, “Forever.”

“Like the sun and the moon, you and I will meet again,” the woman said, “Forever.”

They did not have to count to three. Zuko sucked in a breath. His soulmate nodded. 

They jumped. 

**********

Zuko woke from the dream with sobs wracking his chest. He sat up in bed, fists clenched on the sheets. 

Why would the universe show him such a horrible ending? His breath hitched, tears running in rivulets down his cheeks. He hadn’t even got to find his soulmate and it felt like he had already lost them again. 

But the bond still hummed in his veins. His soulmate, somewhere, was trying to wrap their head around something. Zuko suspected they both had seen that dream. He sent as directed a feeling as he could. “Are you there are you there are you there are you there,” he tried to call through the bond. His soulmate responded with a rush of reassurance and safety and love. 

It was love. Not any kind of gentle affection, or passing attraction. But steady, enduring, love. Zuko wanted to ball up the feeling and put it on his shelf. He knew that wasn’t what love was about, but it was getting so hard to have these big feelings passed to him with no one to explain them. 

It was almost seven AM, so Zuko figured he might as well get started on his day. He wiped his eyes with the backs of his hands and swung his legs over the edge of his bed.

He didn’t have to go into the office, thank god, but he did have a few things on the agenda. Mai wanted him to learn the names of all of the people in the head office main floor so he could make some work friends. Azula wanted him to learn the profiles of their biggest investors so he could be better prepared for an upcoming meeting. And Zuko wanted to learn what the company actually did with all that money and influence.

He propped open his laptop on his dining table and typed in the search browser box ‘Ba Sing Se’. 

********

Sokka was in a bad mood when he left the office. Well not exactly a bad mood, he tried to spin bad moods into something nice for his soulmate. It was more of a disjointed mood. 

The dream last night had been way too clear for comfort. The Sokka from that place was way stronger than the current Sokka would have been. He had practically begged the body to run or try to talk their way out of it with the guys in the funny hats. But she was steadfast and certain, and Sokka guessed dreams just didn’t work like that.

He’d snapped at Katara in the morning, still feeling sensitive from being forced to jump off a cliff in his sleep. They had one of their nastier fights in a little while, then Sokka had had to run for the bus before they could make up. 

His soulmate was clingier than usual today, as clingy as someone he couldn’t see could be. They sent him near constant searching vibes, which Sokka returned with a bit of the devotion he couldn’t help but feel at this point. Sokka didn’t mind it though, the dream had made him more determined than ever to keep looking for his soulmate. They’d been through a lot together, apparently, and Sokka wanted more than anything to just be with them in this lifetime too. 

At work, he put the final touches on his second draft of the school building. Toph couldn’t find any issues with the design and Suki was really excited to finally integrate her landscape architecture plans. 

He couldn’t stop thinking about Zuko all day. It didn’t feel like betrayal to his soulmate, he could feel two different ways about two different people. It was distracting as fuck though, to know he could be just a few floors below, wearing those slacks and well fitting dress shirts. And not wanting Sokka the way that Sokka wanted him.

The bus ride home felt twice as long as the way to work, honestly it probably was. By the time he slid his key into the lock, Sokka was ready to watch some mind numbing reality TV until his eyes blurred.

“Sokka, hey,” Katara said as soon as he walked in the door. She sat at the kitchen island in front of a stack of very boring looking books

Sokka kicked off his shoes, then placed them neatly on the shoe rack before Katara could get on his case.

“I’m sorry,” they said at the exact same time. Sokka laughed and walked over to ruffle Katara’s loose hair. She swatted his hand away.

“You go first,” he said.

“I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that this morning, I know you didn’t mean to slam the door. I’ve been really stressed with school and I let my temper get out of control,” she said, blinking her bright blue eyes at him. 

“And I shouldn’t have called you a bratty loser with no chill,” Sokka said solemnly. 

Katara snorted, “Truce?”

“Truce.”

Sokka went to open the fridge to see what he could cobble into a reasonable dinner.

“You don’t have to make dinner tonight, actually,” Katara said, “Professor Iroh invited Aang and I for a family style meal at his place and he said we could bring one guest each.”

Sokka eyed her suspiciously, “Will you guys be talking lawyer the whole time?”

“Well, yeah, it’s pretty much a casual interview to see if Aang and I would be interested in his project. But there’ll be free steak! And sushi!”

“Sold,” Sokka said, “When do we leave?”

“Um,” Katara craned her neck to look at the oven clock, “Aang’s picking me - us- up in five.”

Sokka looked down at his office outfit and shrugged, he could have been in a Denny’s uniform for all he cared. 

Katara rushed around to get changed and find her phone. Sokka found it under the fourth open book on the kitchen counter.

In no time, they were piling into Aang’s prius. Katara called shotgun so she climbed in next to Aang up front. Sokka discovered that there was already someone in the back seat.

“Toph?”

“Waddup, Sock-face.”

Sokka got in. Aang and Katara set up directions to get to Iroh’s house.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded at a whisper. Toph was also still wearing her work clothes from the architecture firm. A white cane was folded on the seat beside her.

“Aang and I go way back, don’t we twinkletoes?” she called to the front seat. 

Aang nodded, “Yeah! We used to do judo together. She kicked my ass!”

Katara turned in her seat, “I’m Katara and I respect that very much.”

Sokka slapped away Katara’s waving hand, “She can’t see that, you goon.”

“My spidey senses tell me the girls are fighting,” Toph said sagely.

Katara and Sokka glared at each other. Sokka stuck out his tongue and Katara rolled her eyes, settling back into her seat. 

After about twenty minutes, they pulled into a cozy looking house with a lush garden at the edge of the woods.

“Creepy,” said Sokka.

“Be nice,” said Katara.

“I think it’s neat,” said Aang.

“It smells like grandmas,” said Toph. 

The man who opened the door was not what Sokka expected. He was vaguely round shaped, wearing sandals and some kind of wrap around tunic thing.

“Come in, come in,” he said, ushering them in. 

As weird as it was to Sokka to be going to dinner with one of Katara’s professors, Iroh didn’t actually give off creepy vibes. He smiled kindly at each of them and shook their hands firmly. They were settled in the living room with a cup of green tea each in about three minutes flat. 

“Am I to understand you two work at an architecture firm?”

“Yeah,” said Toph, “Snoozles here draws the lines around, and I champion the people as a representative for the underserved, bringing the next generation into an era of peace and understanding.”

Sokka sputtered, “Draw lines? I-”

“They work in the same building as Reyall head office,” Katara interrupted.

Iroh considered his cup of tea thoughtfully, “The universe smiles on those who wish to become people of value instead of people of success.”

Sokka and Katara had a sibling ‘seems fake but okay’ moment.

“I do wonder how my nephew is getting on there,” Iroh continued, “His father became so blind to greed. It could have been a truly great force in the world.”

“Your nephew?” asked Aang. Sokka noticed Aang and Katara exchange a look, then they looked over at him in unison. It was kind of disturbing.

“Yes,” Iroh said, addressing Aang, “My nephew and my niece have taken up their father’s position. My niece takes after her father and one would be hard pressed to change her perspective. Her drive is admirable. But my nephew… he is a good person. Good people can either shape the world around them to be the place they wish it to be, or be crushed beneath the things that it is not.”

“But,” Katara said, glancing at Sokka again, “Isn’t your organization suing Reyall for the oil spill at Kioshi Island right now?”

Iroh laughed, “Bah, that’s just the repercussions of the mistakes of the past. It’s the future that we came to discuss.”

The trio launched into the borderline unbearably boring discussion that Katara had promised. Sokka was sure it would have been riveting if he understood a word they were saying. He figured Iroh must have been talking about Zuko, he had taken over from his father like Iroh said. Sokka wanted to press Iroh to tell him more about Zuko, but it was Katara’s night, not his. Instead, he and Toph started a silent game of soccer with her shoe from either side of the sitting room.

Eventually, when the score was Toph six, Sokka two, curse her heightened sense of object permanence, Iroh moved the conversation to the dinner table. Sokka explained each dish to Toph and helped her get the things she wanted where she could reach them. She flicked a pea at his head when he started to overfunction. Here, at least, Sokka could make his way through heaps of gyoza and sirloin steak while tuning out the conversation. 

In the middle of a thrilling conversation about something called an environmental impact assessment, Sokka excused himself to go to the washroom. It was essentially an excuse to go for a walk, he was getting antsy.

On the way there, he didn’t bother snooping around. Iroh had a nice, almost minimalist house. A few bamboo plants and bonsai trees stood in corners and the bathroom had a fountain style tap which took Sokka a moment to figure out. The towels had tea leaves printed on them.

On the way back, he took his time. Sokka figured he could dawdle a bit, five minutes was a normal amount of time for someone to go to the bathroom, right?

The hall between the dining room and the bathroom had a few pictures on the wall. There were a few with a strapping young Iroh, a smiling woman, and a little boy. There were a few with two little black haired boys laughing together. There was one with one of the boys all on his own. 

Sokka leaned in to take a better look. This photo was different from the others. Most of these photos looked like they were done with a high quality camera, catching a moment as it happened. This one was a bit blurry and posed like the boy was taking a selfie. It was the only picture with a lone figure. That wasn’t what made Sokka take a sharp breath through his teeth, though.

Just below the close cut black hair, on the temple of the boy, was a red mark. It was a curling wave with seafoam rising into his hairline. Golden eyes, striking as a car crash, stared back at Sokka, daring him to say something.

Sokka tore the picture off the wall and ran down the hall. He burst into the dining room and the conversation ground to a halt. Sokka didn’t wait for someone to ask.

“What is this?” he demanded, pointing the picture towards Iroh. Somewhere to his left Katara gasped. 

Iroh looked fondly at the picture, “That’s my nephew Zuko who I spoke of earlier.”

“And the mark?” Sokka demanded, voice coming out harsher than he intended. 

“Well,” Iroh said, “He’s been given a great gift. I would hope no one would treat him differently because he has a soulmate. You know my wife and I-”

Sokka turned to Aang, cutting off Iroh, “I’m taking your car, give me your keys.”

“What? Why?” Aang asked, eyes wide.

“Give him the keys,” said Katara, “I’ll explain in a minute.”

Aang reluctantly dug in his pocket and tossed Sokka the prius keys.

“Good luck,” said Katara.

“Don’t fuck it up!” yelled Toph. 

He barely heard her, he was already running out the door.


	8. What I Gotta Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka tests out the brakes on the prius. Zuko goes to military jail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason I have a headcannon that Sokka is a bad driver.
> 
> Anyway, thank you all for your lovely chaotic comments!
> 
> TW: discussion of death

Zuko tugged at his hair, a bit of dread coiling in his stomach as he stared at his laptop screen. He couldn’t let Reyall, Azula really, lay a finger on Ba Sing Se. If he sat by idly while they strip mined this nature preserve, not only would he be letting the world get a little bit worse, but also he would be responsible in the eyes of the law. 

The low-grade dread and anxiety was a strange contradiction to the boredom in his veins. Zuko remembered that particular feeling in the bond from a few years ago when it would come back every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoon. It had overlapped with one of his music theory electives, making an already boring class extra tedious. He hoped his emotional spiralling would provide some entertainment for his soulmate if nothing else. 

He debated clicking on another article. He should be as prepared as possible, but he also might start crying if he had to read another word about the cute baby bobcats who called Ba Sing Se home, that would be eradicated if their territory were to shrink. Not to mention the ancestral indigenous hunting grounds, the rare bird sanctuary, and the peatlands which took up carbon emissions. Maybe Zuko hadn’t made the best choices when he was younger, but he didn’t actually plan on becoming a history book villain. 

He closed his laptop and pushed up from the couch. He fell right back down. Something was happening to his soulmate. The bond had a weird pulling sensation with exhilaration and anticipation. Zuko put a hand to his chest, trying to get his breathing under control. Did his soulmate take up street racing or something?

His phone rang, buzzing on the coffee table. An unknown number. Still ruffled from the whiplash change in mood, Zuko picked it up and answered suspiciously.

“Hello, Zuko here.”

“Where are you?” Sokka said breathlessly through the line. Zuko frowned, did Sokka finally want the insurance money?

“I’m at home. Why?”

“I have something to tell you, you’re gonna wanna hear it,” Sokka insisted.

“Can you tell me now? I’m kind of in the middle of something,” Zuko was actually in the middle of taking a break, but still. 

“I have a feeling you wouldn’t believe me.”

There was the distant sound of a squeal of tires and a honking horn through the phone.

“Are you driving right now?”

“What? Yeah- look that’s not the issue, just give me your address.”

Zuko probably would have told him to keep dreaming on a regular day. But right now, with this pull pull pull in his veins, he felt like taking a risk. He told Sokka where he lived.

“I’ll be there in two and a half minutes,” Sokka said, “Zuko, don’t go anywhere.”

He hung up. Sitting in the near silence of his living room, Zuko heard the echo of his name in Sokka’s voice. No one had said his name like that in a long time. It had been breathless and almost tender. Why did his heart ache at the sound?

Zuko decided to go wait outside. He liked Sokka, more than he thought he should, but the whole mystery announcement had him on edge. He tugged on the red cable knit sweater hanging by the door and stepped out into the cool autumn air. His porch light cast orange across the wood planks, reminding Zuko of a far away dream of a field and a sunset. 

A silver prius lurched to a stop in the street. Zuko witnessed quite possibly the worst parking job he had seen. The back end of the car was almost perpendicular in the street. The driver’s door opened anyway. 

Sokka stepped out of the car. The jolt of recognition jumped in the bond. Zuko knew that feeling from more than the times he’d run into Sokka in this life. It was the jolt from the dream that morning. A little bolt of lightning in a field, by the lake, under the wall of the convent, on the clifftop. And now. He had put it off as surprise for so long. He wanted to laugh, but it wasn’t funny. 

Sokka ran to the bottom of the stairs and stopped, looking up at Zuko for permission. His ice blue eyes sparkled in the glow of the porchlight and Zuko felt a simmer of that attraction, that love too, in the bond and in his chest. Zuko didn’t know whether he wanted Sokka to stay there or come closer. If he came closer, Zuko wasn’t sure he’d let him go this time. Zuko’s hands shook as he leaned forward on the railing. He couldn’t make himself think about why he was so nervous, it felt too big, too final. 

“Zuko,” Sokka said.

“Sokka.”

“I’m sorry I was late.”

“Late for what?” Zuko’s voice was barely above a mumble. 

Sokka tugged at the collar of his navy blue shirt. Zuko saw nothing but more smooth brown skin and the line of his collarbone. 

“Hold up,” said Sokka, wrestling with his collar. After a moment, he gave up and unbuttoned the shirt to his navel. 

Zuko might have noticed how strong Sokka was, or maybe even how he wanted to feel the planes of that chest under his fingertips, if he wasn’t distracted by a splotch of red just over Sokka’s heart. 

His feet seemed to move on their own, Zuko didn’t remember asking his body to move. He was suddenly standing right in front of Sokka in the front yard. He raised a shaking hand. It hovered just above the mark. Sokka’s breath was the only sound in the still air. 

The mark was only fresh in Zuko’s mind from the dreams. He hadn’t seen it on his own face in years. The curl of flame and rise of ash looked better on Sokka, he thought. It suited the spot. Zuko lifted his other hand to feel over the rough skin of his scar. It was still there, just as tough as it had always been. 

“How did you…” he couldn’t bring himself to finish the question. The feelings in his veins were so loud he felt like he’d have to yell over them. There was a sense, almost like a thought, of ‘finally finally finally finally’ singing through the bond.

Sokka smiled wide, a bit sheepish too, and Zuko forgot to breathe. It was different from this close, no one had a smile as bright as that. Zuko was overwhelmed.

“I went to your uncle’s house for my sister’s school thing. He had a picture of you, you know, from before,” Sokka’s eyes moved to Zuko’s temple, but no disgust or pity came through the bond. It was just a little pull and a little warmth. Zuko dropped his hand from his face. 

He thought it would be fitting that Uncle Iroh be the catalyst. He’d been the one to draw Zuko away from his father and into a world with a bit more kindness. It made sense that he’d give Zuko this too. 

“So you do have a car,” Zuko said nonsensically, trying to lessen the weight of the moment, “Was the other day just to get me alone?”

Sokka barked a laugh, “Ha! That’s just my temporary horse upgrade.”

Zuko’s eyes snapped up to meet Sokka’s. Of course they would have shared the visions. Zuko remembered how his soulmate had comforted him through the bond even though they felt the hurt too after waking up from those dreams. How his soulmate had always given him something good to hold on to. 

Sokka moved closer. Zuko’s hand skimmed over the mark. The bond blazed and froze at the same time. Zuko felt every touch, every brush of the hands or press of the lips, from the dreams. He shut his eyes tight. There was so much there. They had been together since the beginning of time, they had only just met. 

A warm hand curled around his wrist gently. Zuko cracked his eyes open. Sokka was looking at him in something like wonder. The fire-ice in his veins subsided to more of an undercurrent of indisputable rightness. 

“You know, if you had helped me up in the street, we could have skipped all that nonsense,” Sokka with a grin.

Zuko rolled his eyes, chuckling, “You hit a guy with your car one time…”

“Hey!” Sokka said, “You just had to stop at the red light, it’s not hard.”

Zuko kissed him. 

With his eyes closed, it felt like there was nothing in the whole world but the two of them. Sokka’s lips were warm and soft against his. Zuko moved carefully, not wanting to miss a thing. Sokka’s hand tightened on his wrist, tugging him closer. 

The bond zinged through Zuko’s veins and the fireworks were back. He moved his hand from Sokka’s chest to the back of his head, heart pounding against his ribcage. Sokka opened his mouth slightly and Zuko responded with a brush of his tongue. He’d wanted this since he was fifteen. 

Zuko pulled back before it went further, letting a sliver of autumn air come between them. He didn’t want to stop, and he could tell through the bond that Sokka didn’t either. But knowing the person behind the feeling was so new, Zuko wanted to check anyway. They were also still out in the open of his front yard. 

Sokka looked at him through squinted eyes, as if considering something.

“What are you thinking?” said Zuko. He liked that they were so close he could whisper and Sokka would hear him. He liked that Sokka’s hand was still resting on his wrist.

“I liked it when you were shorter than me,” Sokka said.

Zuko shoved him back gently with a laugh, “And I liked you better blonde,” he said sarcastically.

“Bud, that’s totally a lie. You think I’m hot as fuck. I can feel what you feel, remember,” Sokka crossed his arms, eyes still twinkling with humour. 

“Don’t call me bud, my tongue was just in your mouth,” said Zuko. Sokka laughed loudly. It filled the quiet street, big and brilliant. Zuko idly wondered if any of his neighbours were bothered by their noise. He found that he didn’t care if they were. 

Sokka’s shoulders shook with a slight shiver. Zuko guessed he would be getting cold with his thin shirt unbuttoned like that.

“Do you want to come in?” he asked. He hoped that Sokka could feel there was no expectation in the words, just a bit of shelter. 

Sokka scratched the back of his neck, looking, and feeling, a bit guilty, “I have to take the car back.”

“Is the ‘school thing’ still going on?” Zuko said, raising his eyebrows.

Sokka winced, “I, uh, kind of made a scene halfway through dinner. Aang’s gonna want his car back. Do you wanna come?”

The idea of meeting Sokka’s sister, friends, and enduring his uncle’s pride in him, all while navigating this new remarkable thing between them, seemed vaguely terrifying to Zuko.

Sokka must have guessed, or felt more likely, Zuko’s thought process, because he put his hands up, “Or not, no pressure.”

Zuko had an urge to pull Sokka back to him by his belt loops and pick up where they left off. Sokka smiled smugly.

“So getting you out of social situations is the way into your pants, huh?”

Zuko cursed the transparency of the bond, ears growing warm, “Get out of here, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Sokka darted forward, pressing a kiss on Zuko’s cheek just under his scar, “Promise?”

Zuko sent a wave of the adoration he wouldn’t voice out loud, just to watch Sokka’s eyes widen and jaw slacken. 

“Yeah,” said Zuko, “I do.”

Zuko stood on his porch long after the prius disappeared down the street. The cold turned his cheeks numb, but he barely felt it. He was warm from the inside out. 

*********

Sokka entered the dream in a whirlwind of activity. He was walking through a hallway lined by guards in khaki uniforms, reminding him of action movies set in the fifties or sixties. He passed offices frantic with the clacking of typewriters. 

He followed someone with crew cut hair in a military green uniform through a thick metal door and down a set of cement stairs. Everyone he saw had deep brown skin and black hair, from the women in the offices to the men standing watch in the hall. He imagined if he looked down, he would see the same in this body. 

With every step he took, there was a sharp click. Was this what it was like to wear heels? It set his body weight forward precariously. A pencil skirt forced his legs to take small steps. Of course this Sokka was used to the clothes, holding her shoulders back, head high. 

The halogen lights overhead buzzed loudly. They stopped briefly at a security checkpoint, pausing until a man behind a caged-in booth nodded. Geez, where were they going? 

They walked down yet another bunker-like hallway. It looked the same as the last one, and the one before that. The man ahead finally stopped at a reinforced door. He opened it with a bit of difficulty.

“You have ten minutes,” he said stiffly, ushering Sokka through the door with a hand on his lower back. The language wasn’t English, but something more fluid. Sokka stepped in without so much as glancing up at the man. The door shut behind him with a decisive clang.

“There you are, sunshine,” drawled a voice from the other side of the room, “I was beginning to think you forgot about me.”

The room was a low cement-walled square divided by a set of dark metal bars. It was a makeshift cell. A single halogen lamp hung from the ceiling on Sokka’s side of the bars. There were two metal chairs, one on each side. In the chair on the other side lounged an absurdly handsome man in a rumpled black suit. His jawline could have cut glass and his full lips contrasted with the scruff around his jaw. 

The jolt of recognition made Sokka’s teeth clench together. 

Sokka picked out the mark on the temple of the man right away. Zuko must be in that body too. He tried to send a little greeting down the bond, but nothing came back. All he could feel was the burning resentment muddled with a bit of shameful wanting from this body and a sense of composed pleasure from the other end of the bond. 

Sokka didn’t sit down, marching right up to the bars.

“How dare you,” he spit, “I gave everything to you, my time, my secrets, my honour, and what do I get back?”

“A few nights of ecstasy and a story to tell?” the man suggested.

Rage turned Sokka’s vision red, “I’ve been let go, deemed unfit to serve my country. Because of what you did, what you made me do. It’s a miracle I’m not marked for execution beside you!”

The man sat up a little straighter in the chair, “Now I didn’t make you do anything. You gave those documents on your own.”

Sokka slammed his hands on the barred door separating them. It made a satisfying cacophony in the small space.

“Bullshit!” he shouted, “You lied! You manipulated me to get ahead in your little game of spy.”

The man stood up fast, chair crashing to the ground, “I lied because I love you!”

Sokka’s eyes widened. Apparently it was the first time the man had said anything like that to this Sokka. The bond confirmed it, passion fiery and untamed swallowing the composure from before. 

“I would have told you everything if you asked,” the man said, honesty and desperation now flowing through Sokka’s veins, “But if you had known from the beginning, and I still got what I needed some other way, you would be hanging with me tomorrow.”

The man’s voice broke on the last word. Sokka’s heart shattered in his chest. This Sokka hadn’t known he was going to hang. This Sokka thought it was less dignified than a firing squad, more theatrical. They must have wanted to make an example of him. 

“W-what?” he said softly. The man rushed to the bars, reaching through to wipe away the tears just as they fell on Sokka’s cheeks. The touch felt like home, felt like safety, so at odds with reality. 

“Bureaucrats are the most vindictive bunch, I’ve found,” the man said with a rueful smile. 

“I don’t want you to die,” Sokka admitted. It felt silly, to this version of himself, to hate him so much and love him just as fiercely. 

The man shook his head gently, “Me neither, sunshine.”

He snaked a hand around Sokka’s back and kissed him through the bars fervidly. Sokka’s hands stayed on the bars, trying to cherish their last moments together. 

The man pulled away slowly, like it pained him. Sokka knew through the bond that it did. But there was also a brief flicker of something else, something like victory.

“But,” the man said through a sly grin, breath ghosting across Sokka’s hair, “I’m not dying tomorrow.”

Sokka stepped back in confusion, “What do you mean? Did you make a deal?”

“Not quite.”

The man opened his palm. In the centre was a set of silver keys on a ring. How had he-

It dawned on Sokka, the hand at his back as he entered the cell had been a strange gesture from the officer. But perfect to slide a set of keys into his jacket pocket. Yet again, this Sokka had been used by his soulmate. Another strategic play, another show of smoke and mirrors. 

“Now, sunshine, I know you can handle yourself, but I would hate for this to get messier than it has to.”

“What now?” Sokka said warily.

“Now? You should probably run.”

Sokka woke up with the frantic sound of heels hitting the cement floor ringing in his ears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's still more to go, but I'm running out of Shrek The Third soundtrack titles!  
> If the next chapter is called Thank You (Falletin' Me Be Mice Elf Again), just know I had no choice (ಥ﹏ಥ)


	9. Charming's Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko's taxi service hosts its first customer. Sokka's fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am clinging to the chapter title with a thread. There is charming and there is plan.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> -mylevelance

Sokka rubbed his eyes, groaning at the sound of his alarm. He rolled over in bed and smacked at the alarm clock until the beeping stopped. 

His phone rang.

“Come on!” Sokka groaned to himself, feeling around on his bedside table. 

The caller ID read Zuko. Why was Zuko calling?

The events of last night rushed back, Zuko was his soulmate, Zuko was the one on the other side of the bond feeling worried about something right now. 

Sokka answered the phone, “Hey Zuko.”

“Hey,” Zuko said. Oh my god, Sokka thought, how had he been missing out on how Zuko’s voice sounded like that in the morning, all raspy and gravelly? The injustice of it all.

“Should I say hey back? We can keep this going,” Sokka teased. 

Zuko laughed quietly, “No, sorry, I just- I had a dream.”

Sokka used incredible restraint and did not suggest he write a speech, “Was it a dream where you used me to break out of prison, or was that just me?”

“Yeah, I was there,” Zuko said, “I’m really sorry.”

The sincerity of his apology made Sokka sit up, “Dude, that wasn’t you, you don’t have to be sorry.”

“It was still a really shitty thing to do, I just wanted you to know that I didn’t want to do it.”

“Yeah and I didn’t want to wear a bra, but since that wasn’t me, I’m not bothered.”

Zuko was quiet for a moment. Sokka could feel that he was easing himself down from the worry that Sokka would be mad at him. Huh, the feelings coming through the bond were almost more like coherent thoughts at this point. 

“I’m not mad, and to prove I’m not mad, you should drive me to work and see how unbothered I am.”

“But I don’t have to go to the office today,” Zuko said.

“Great,” said Sokka, “So you have the time. I’ll see you at seven forty five.”

“Um,” said Zuko.

“See you soon,” said Sokka. He hung up and jumped out of bed. 

Katara was still asleep by the time Sokka left the apartment. She had stayed up into the small hours with Sokka talking with him about finally finding his soulmate. She was still suspicious of Zuko, probably fair because he was running one of the companies she was working to take down, but she was supportive of Sokka and what he wanted. He was really glad not to have to fight her about this. He was a little scared that he knew he would have.

Nothing had really come between them in a serious way before. Sure, they got on each other's nerves and disagreed, but after losing their mum, and essentially their dad too, they were each other’s only family. Other than gran, but she was more of a concept than a person in their lives at this point. 

Sokka should probably call her, it had been a few weeks. Not today, though. He shoved on his shoes, grabbing a coat at the last minute, and rushed out at 7:44. Zuko was already waiting. 

While Zuko’s car was as plain as plain could be, Sokka could feel the gentle pull pull pull in the bond. It led him right into the passenger seat. Right to that jolt letting him know he was in the right place. 

“Good morning, Zuzu,” Sokka said as he pulled the door shut behind him. He felt the clear thought of ‘ew’ in the bond before he saw the grimace on Zuko’s face, “What? Too soon?”

“My sister calls me that,” Zuko said. The car pulled out into the traffic heading downtown. He was right, that was a bit ew. 

“What should I call you then,” Sokka said teasingly, “I feel like all our past selves had fun pet names.”

Zuko gave him a side eye. Today he was dressed the most casually Sokka had seen him. He wore a black hoodie with loose light wash jeans, his hair was fresh out of the shower. Even when he wasn’t trying he looked like he was about to star in a gritty action movie or something. It was what Suki would call a boyfriend look. Sokka turned the term over in his brain. Boyfriend was a little less daunting than soulmate, but at the same time, it felt like a different level of attachment. A level of attachment Sokka wanted, the more time he spent figuring out what made Zuko tick. But they weren’t there yet, not by a long shot. 

“Just Zuko is fine,” Zuko said with a crooked smile, eyes on the road. Sokka narrowed his eyes stubbornly. 

“But there were some great ones! Sugar? Sunlight? Lover? Sunshine? Darling?”

“I’m pretty sure ‘sugar’ was for the horse.”

“I refuse to be shown up by me in a past life, what’s the next me gonna think!?”

There was a flicker of something like fear in the bond. The soft rock playing in the background filled the silence in the car. Zuko’s eyes shifted over to Sokka briefly, then back to the road. 

“The next you?” 

Sokka heard the concerned tone in his voice, but he answered honestly anyway, “Yeah, I mean you’re you and I’m me right now, but we won’t always be. Soon we’ll be a dream in someone else’s head. I don’t want them to think we’re lame because we didn’t fight bad guys in the woods or get tossed off a cliff. What do you think about homeslice?”

“That’s very… practical of you,” said Zuko. Sokka felt a bit of turbulence through the bond, but it hadn’t yet turned into a singular feeling. 

“What? Okay I honestly didn’t think you would go for that one, but I’m kind of living for it so-”

“Not about the pet name,” Zuko said, “Do I look like...? Nevermind.”

The feeling snapped into clarity in the bond. It was a sinking feeling, almost like… inadequacy. Sokka saw how he’d gone wrong almost right away. 

Grateful for the slow moving traffic on the highway, Sokka pulled one of Zuko’s hands off the steering wheel. None of the out of body experience slammed through the bond, just a little feeling that Zuko liked that Sokka wanted to touch him. Sokka sent reassurance through the bond right back. He wove their fingers together, feeling the warm through his palms. 

“Hey, Zuko.”

“Yeah, Sokka?” Zuko looked at Sokka when he said it, honey warm eyes searching. 

“You know I like you, right?”

“That’s a shock,” Zuko said sarcastically, but the bond said he was actually caught off guard for a second.

“It’s not just the soul bond though,” Zuko looked at him skeptically, “I mean, well, like it’s definitely a bonus, but I thought you were beautiful in the rain before I even knew it was you and I think your weird is going to match mine and... I just want to know you. Not past life you, not even through the bond you, I already know him, but the you that’s sitting in front of me.”

Sokka didn’t normally talk like that. He always thought it was cheesy when people poured out their hearts all in one go. This time though, he knew that Zuko wasn’t going to reject him. Not that he couldn’t say no, Sokka was pretty sure he would cut off an arm to make sure Zuko was happy. For now, he got to watch Zuko’s neck get a bit red and his cheeks warm. There was a flutter of a tender kind of joy through the bond. Sokka wanted to pull it through and make it big and loud. Zuko had always kept the vulnerable parts of himself small, Sokka hoped they could change that. 

“Oh,” said Zuko, looking down at their twined fingers on the centre console, “I didn’t know.”

“Well I just told you so now you do. I have a strict no take backsies on all of my confessions.” There was a beat of silence. “Now’s when you tell me how cool I looked walking Appa.”

Zuko laughed, silence breathing, “Sure, Sokka, you looked super cool chasing after the badly trained dog.”

“He’s not badly trained! He’s just independent!”

“Yeah, he independently chose to slobber all over me while you just stood there.”

“I was distracted,” Sokka mumbled. 

They reached downtown and Zuko stopped the car outside the office building. It was a taxi only zone, but Sokka decided Zuko was essentially his taxi.

“Have a good day lounging around while I work to earn a living for this family,” Sokka said in mock anguish. 

Zuko smirked, “Sure, should I get to the cooking and cleaning?”

“You know what? That’d be great, Katara barely cleans up after herself these days.”

“Maybe I should start charging you gas money,” Zuko mused.

Sokka was affronted, “I am a starving intern, and you’re stuck with me, it’s just not economical.”

“Take me to dinner then.” 

Zuko pulled their joined hands up, pressing a kiss to the back of Sokka’s hand. Sokka felt a little shiver of fondness through the bond. His words got stuck in his throat at Zuko's sudden confidence.

“Ye-yes. Um, yup I’ll take you to dinner. How's eight and a half hours from now sound?”

“Sounds great. Now get out, there’s a couch calling my name,” said Zuko, lightly shoving Sokka’s shoulder with his other hand. 

“Okay, but you have to let me go, you squid,” Sokka laughed at Zuko’s grimace at the nickname, then laughed harder watching Zuko realise he was still holding Sokka’s hand tightly. Zuko released Sokka’s hand and shoved him towards the door again, cheeks red. 

Sokka was still laughing when Zuko drove off. 

He kept the smile on his face all the way up to the twentieth floor. It felt like he had the best secret. When he walked into the workroom, he was only thinking of bragging to Suki and Toph about finding his soulmate. He didn’t pay much attention to the way Suki barely looked up from her drafts on the table when he came in, the way Toph kept quiet, focussing on her work at her desk. 

“Guess who just became like 35% less available?” he boasted. 

“Sokka,” said Suki.

“You got that right-”

“Sokka we’re fucked,” said Toph from the other end of the room. 

Sokka tossed his bag under the table, “Well I wouldn’t go that far, I’m sure there’s someone just as charismatic and handsome as-”

“Sokka, shut up and listen,” said Suki firmly. She finally looked up from the table. There were dark bags under her eyes and her lips were pulled tight. She looked about as stressed as she had been during exams in university.

Sokka shut up.

“You either didn’t get the email last night, or you're drunk to numb the pain,” Toph said, crossing her arms and swivelling to face him on her chair. 

“What email?” Sokka asked with a sinking feeling. He had forgotten to check his email last night and this morning, caught up with the whole Zuko thing. 

Suki scraped her hair out of her face, “There was a conflict with our presentation date next week. They moved it to this week. Friday morning.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I wish.”

Sokka whipped out his phone and scrolled through his email app. There, in black and white, was the confirmation. They were presenting the elementary school design in three days. And all he had were some loose papers. 

Sokka groaned, “How the hell are we going to do this?”

Toph scoffed from the corner, “How do you think? Kiss your sleep goodbye and say hello to your new best friends; adrenaline, anxiety, and caffeine.”

“But hey,” said Suki brightly, “It’s not like you had a life anyway.”

Sokka groaned again and pulled out his drafts. 

*********

Zuko’s finger hovered over the call button. Something was wrong with Sokka. Not a life threatening kind of wrong, but the bond had turned to thorns in his veins. Because it was Sokka, it was stabs of anxiety mixed with an attempt at positive determination. Zuko saw right through that slant to the positive, something was wrong. 

It was a question no amount of online articles could answer; to what extent did they owe each other? If it were a regular relationship, which Zuko already didn’t have that much experience with, he would probably wait for Sokka to call him in a few days and go about his business. But the whole soulmate thing made Sokka’s emotional state his business whether he liked it or not. All the stories online were about first meetings and the feelings of immediate closeness. Not all that helpful when Zuko was trying to see how much space he should give. The sense that they were already behind where they should be as soulmates was frustrating to Zuko. But he knew what happened when he pushed, he never wanted to be that person again. 

He decided that Sokka was a grown man, he would probably tell Zuko if Zuko needed to know. Sokka was also at work, there was a very slim chance that Zuko’s arts degree and exposure to corporate crime would be any help at all. 

Zuko tapped away from Sokka’s contact information and scrolled up to Mai’s. He hit call. 

“Hey,” Mai said flatly. 

“Hey, are you busy?” 

“Not really, just helping Ty Lee reorganize Azula’s filing system.”

“Sounds fun.”

“A blast.”

“Can you come over? I need your opinion on something,” Zuko didn’t let his hesitation show in his voice. He didn’t really know if this was one of those ‘right things’ she was talking about the other day. Only one way to find out.

“Making money moves? Azula’ll be so proud.”

Zuko winced, he was pretty sure she’d be the opposite of proud, “Yeah, something like that.”

“Kay, I’ll be there in an hour. Make me an iced coffee as payment.”

“Copy that,” he said dryly. The line went dead. He grinned and went to start on that iced coffee. 

A little while later, Mai stood in his living room, sipping her iced coffee and looking over his research. 

“This is…”

“A disaster either way, I know,” said Zuko quickly.

“I was going to say not half bad.”

“Oh.”

“It’s going to be a cage fight though, you know that, right?”

Zuko sighed and rubbed a hand over his scar, “Yeah, I know.”

“You should probably lawyer up sooner than later. Do you know anyone?”

Zuko smiled to himself, “Yeah I’m gonna talk to my uncle.”

Mai’s eyes narrowed, “Who’s- wait do you mean Iroh?”

“Yeah…” Zuko said slowly. 

“Azula is going to hate that.”

“I know. But I think it’s my best chance. He's the leading expert on Reyall environmental pollution. The fact that he's my uncle doesn't really matter right now.”

Mai considered him carefully. Zuko tried not to fidget under her steady gaze. 

“This is a big risk for you. You wouldn’t have gone against your family for anything a few years ago. Even if you fail, you’re going to change the company forever. You’ll probably lose Azula forever, too. Are you sure?”

“I think this is the first right thing I can do. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I helped tear another hole in the world.”

Mai smiled. It was a tiny thing, just barely there. Only because he knew her, did Zuko know that Mai was beaming, “I was hoping you would say that.”

“I still need your help though. What do I say, how do I stop it all?”

“You know that investors meeting next week?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s when you make your move.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update:
> 
> Getting curb stomped by midterms, but there'll be a new chapter up next Wednesday!
> 
> (づ￣ ³￣)づ*:･ﾟ✧
> 
> -mylevelance


	10. Do You Remember Rock 'N' Roll Radio?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toph carries the team. Zuko's car is brutally threatened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter name could not be helped. Shrek the Third shows mercy for no fic author.
> 
> Do you ever wonder why professors think the 24 hours in your day belong to school work?  
> Well I do, in this essay I will-

A trickle of sweat rolled down the back of Sokka’s neck. Ten minutes. He was still typing out the slides for his part of the presentation. Which would be displayed. In ten minutes. 

He knew Suki wasn’t tapping her foot on the floor to make him anxious, but she matched the pounding of his heart in his ears with each tap. He swiped the back of his arm across his forehead, leaving a mark on the sleeve of his cobalt blue shirt. Damn. 

He hadn’t seen Zuko in days. When he’d gotten the news that he had to finish his project a week early, he texted Zuko to call a rain check on their plans. It was too bad, Sokka had really been looking forward to trying to fluster Zuko over a plate of spaghetti, but the project had erased that possibility. 

He hit save and pulled out the flashdrive, “Done.”

“Thank god,” said Toph exaggeratedly, “I thought we were gonna have to stall for you with the panel. I can juggle a mean coffee mug, but I think they aren’t ready for my power.”

Suki ignored her, “We should head to the conference room. Sokka, can you help me with the model?”

He nodded and went to lift the opposite corner of the miniature elementary school from it’s cardboard base. Suki and he followed Toph out of the room. He was always surprised watching Toph walk confidently through the firm. She never paused to feel around or ask for directions. She just set out her cane to wack people out of the way, they were the ones out of place, not the furniture. That strategy was actually pretty helpful today when they were in a rush. 

Sokka had to twist sideways to fit through the door of the presentation room without dropping the model. Maybe not the best entrance. He didn’t look at the panel of four sitting at the end of the long table until he tugged his shirt back into place and plastered on a confident grin. 

A wave of what Sokka could only describe as chill vibes snaked through his veins. The pounding in his ears quieted. He unclenched his grip from the corner of the model which he hadn’t noticed he was still holding. Huh, chill and relaxed was pretty out of character for Zuko, at least these days. He had texted Sokka good luck in the morning, so maybe he was trying to stay calm on purpose. The thought of Zuko lying in a bubble bath surrounded by candles and listening to classical music with the intensity and focus he seemed to bring to everything else made Sokka’s smile settle more naturally on his face. Zuko would probably glare at the ceiling until he forced himself to be calm, always the hard way. 

“Thank you for taking the time to see our proposal,” Suki said to the group. There was the head architect, head landscape architect, the firm accessibility consultant, and a representative from the school board. Sokka had only met the head architect Piandao once, for forty five seconds on his first day. He hadn’t met the others, but he knew their coffee orders fairly well. 

“Of course,” Piandao said, “Thank you for your flexibility.”

Sokka wanted to laugh. Flexibility? More like snapping in half to get the 3D model rendered on the computer then off to the printer, then detailed. He had slept maybe a collective of two hours over the last three days. He plugged in the flash drive to the presentation computer and started up their slide show while Suki and Toph introduced the project. 

Sokka’s part was up first. He took a breath. The instant before he started to speak, the feeling in the bond changed. Something firm and unquestioning came from Zuko’s end. It was so clear, Sokka could almost hear the thought; you got this. Yeah, he did. 

He clicked to the next slide. 

The presentation felt like it lasted one minute, even though they ate up the better part of an hour. As frantic as he had been to get it ready in time, Sokka knew his designs inside and out. He anticipated where potential flaws might hide and proved to the panel that they were managed or at least purposeful. Every time Piandao nodded in thought, Sokka knew he nailed another key point. 

Suki took over to talk about the integration of plant life and structure not only around the building, but also through a central courtyard and through every classroom. Toph took it home with her ‘my way or the highway’ approach to accessibility for a variety of disabilities that hadn’t previously been put into practice in children’s education. Sokka smirked to see the education rep scribbling notes for Toph’s entire section. He had no doubt the city’s elementary schools would get at least a few inclusive upgrades, if not their actual building. 

“And that,” Toph finished, “is why if you don’t use our building design you are contributing to the marginalization of handicapped people and the deterioration of the mental health of a generation.”

“And also, it’s a friendly looking building where the kids will want to go,” Sokka rushed to soften her statement. 

“Thank you for your consideration,” said Suki, clicking onto their concluding slide. 

“We’ll be in touch shortly with our evaluation,” said Piandao by way of dismissal. The three interns filed out of the room, leaving the model for the panel’s consideration. Sokka hoped nothing fell off while they were looking at it. He had only glued on the eaves that morning. 

“Did we kill that or-”

“Hey, interns, grab us a coffee will you,” said one of the guys from the marketing team as he passed them in the hall. Suki glared at his back and Sokka grabbed Toph’s wrist to keep her from raising her middle finger. 

“I just want to lie down,” moaned Sokka once the guy was out of earshot. 

“Nose!” yelled Toph. Sokka lost before he processed what she’d said. Suki clapped him on the back encouragingly as he trudged towards the door. He had to laugh, all their hard work and stress amounted to just another coffee run. 

His phone rang the moment he stepped into the elevator. He answered it without looking, he knew who it was. 

“So?” said Katara, “How’d it go?”

“I swear your sixth sense of my schedule is getting good as mom’s used to be. How’d you know I finished?”

“You said last night at like 2am when the meeting was. I assumed it would take less than an hour, more than a half. You always talk fast when you’re nervous. So, how’d it go?”

“I think we did good. I mean, we’ll have to wait for their feedback, but they seemed to be into everyone’s work, especially Toph’s.”

“That’s so exciting! Your first building. I can’t wait to see it.”

“Hey now,” Sokka said, navigating through the bustling lobby, “They haven’t accepted it yet.”

The line was only a few people long, so he joined the back. 

“Psh, Suki told me how good you are, I’m sure they’ll use it,” Katara said confidently. Sokka could hear the rustling of paper and quiet voices in the background of the call.

“How’s your extracurricular going?” he asked in a conspiracy tone. Katara and Aang had been essentially taken in by Iroh to work with his organisation right away, even though they had been applying for next semester.

“Um,” Katara hesitated.

“What?” Sokka pressed. He was second in line, they’d have to wrap it up quickly.

“Iroh got a new client right after Aang and I joined,” she was quiet for a second, “You should probably talk to Zuko.”

“Zuko? Why-” the barista waved Sokka to the till, “shit I gotta run. See you at home!”

He hung up and approached the till, running through the coffee orders in his head. 

The rest of the day flew by in a blur of exhaustion. Both Suki and Toph agreed to celebrate their finished project on another day. Sokka probably would have fallen asleep at the bar if they went out. He nearly forgot about what Katara had said on the phone until he got off the bus in his neighbourhood to find Zuko sitting on the bus stop bench. 

The spark of recognition shook him into the present. 

“Zuko, hey,” Sokka said, surprised. Zuko stood and waved his hand a bit awkwardly.

“Hey. I was planning on taking you to a celebration or consolation dinner, but I can feel that you’re about two seconds from passing out,” Zuko said, smiling wryly, “at least it went well.” 

Sokka was equal parts touched and thankful, “I mean you can take me to dinner, but you’d be talking to the top of my head while I snore into the salad.”

“Yeah, let’s raincheck,” Zuko said. Sokka felt a little zing of humour through the bond, “I’ll walk you home.”

“It’s not that close,” Sokka warned. 

Zuko shrugged, “I parked near yours anyway.”

Sokka bumped his shoulder into Zuko’s as they started walking down the twilit street, “You just wanted to walk me home like the movies.”

Zuko looked away and Sokka felt a little lilt of guilt in his veins. For a second he couldn’t tell if it was his or Zuko’s. But Sokka’s type of guilt was more sheepish, he always felt like he was getting away with things or neglecting something he shouldn’t. Like he’d done to Zuko this week. No, this was the feeling of hiding something.

“Just tell me,” Sokka said gently, “I promise I won’t egg your car.”

“At least I’d be able to find it in the parking lot,” replied Zuko. 

“C’mon, your nervous is my nervous, just rip off the bandaid so I can get back to being a zombie.”

“Okay,” Zuko took a breath, looking straight ahead, “I hired your sister.”

Sokka had to physically shake his head to clear the fuzz in his brain, “Huh?”

They turned the corner to a street lined with yellow-orange-red maple trees. The leaves crunched under Sokka’s feet. 

“Well, I hired my uncle and he took on Katara and Aang to help with the case, and I’m not paying them or anything other than Iroh’s hourly. I should have told you and I didn’t and I- I’m sorry,” Zuko finished, watching his feet shuffle dry leaves across the sidewalk. 

Sokka reached over and fished Zuko’s hand out of his pocket, lacing their fingers together. The gnawing guilt in his veins shifted to surprise with a sliver of pleasure at the touch. Zuko finally looked over at Sokka. His scar was almost the same deep red as the maple they passed under. Sokka stopped walking, pulling Zuko to face him fully. 

“Zuko, it’s okay. Honestly, I’m just not sure why Katara didn’t tell me, I saw her every day this week,” Sokka actually had waved at her wearily in passing between working in the office and working at home. Not much time for talking.

Zuko craned his neck to look at the leaves overhead. It might have been the sleep deprivation, but Sokka thought Zuko was the best thing he’d ever seen. He wanted to fill his camera roll with Zuko in his hoodie, Zuko in the leaves, Zuko looking back at him. 

“She said she wanted to be professional and honour client confidentiality,” Zuko said dryly. 

Sokka laughed, “Yeah that does sound like something she’d do. What are you doing with the whole legal team?”

“Something that’s probably going to ruin my life, but I haven’t got all that much to lose,” Zuko said, fingers going tense in Sokka’s light grip. Sokka squeezed his hand once.

“Hey, it can’t all be doom and gloom,” he said lightly.

Zuko looked down from the leaves, right into Sokka’s eyes, “No, not everything.”

Just do it, Sokka thought to himself, just lean in and kiss him. He was pretty sure Zuko could feel him psyching himself up, because Zuko raised his eyebrow questioningly. God, he was so pretty. Sokka felt like his insides were turning to goo, like he didn’t have control of his muscles quite the way he wanted to. A knowing smirk pulled at the corner of Zuko’s mouth. 

Zuko tugged on their joined hands, Sokka stumbled forward until they were nearly chest to chest. 

“Hey Sokka?” Zuko’s eyes were full of sunlight.

“Yeah?” Sokka’s voice came out at a whisper. The bond pulled tight, stealing his air. 

“You should kiss me.”

Sokka closed the distance, weaving his free hand through the back of Zuko’s hair. Zuko’s lips moved sure and steady against his. Sokka felt a hand come to rest on his lower back, not forcing him closer, but suggesting the option. Sokka pulled at Zuko’s bottom lip gently with his teeth, feeling the bond spark and stutter. He couldn’t remember why he hadn’t been doing this all week, nothing was worth missing this. 

Sokka kissed his way across Zuko’s cheek to a spot just under his jaw and focused his attention there. The bond let him know just how much Zuko liked that.

“Sokka,” he gasped. Sokka smiled against his skin. Maybe he wasn’t the best with words all the time, but there were some things that he was good at that were just as useful.

A flicker of panic went through the bond, “Sokka, stop,” Zuko gasped. 

Sokka pulled away immediately, letting his hand fall to Zuko’s shoulder. 

“Are you okay?” he asked, a bit breathless. Zuko’s eyes were scanning the street and the houses behind Sokka. When Zuko didn’t answer, Sokka cupped the side of his face, drawing Zuko’s gaze to him. 

The panic was gone, leaving embarrassment and regret in its place. Sokka barely noticed he was sending that usual reassurance to Zuko until he felt the bond mellow out. 

“Sorry, I,” Zuko paused, “I’m not used to this, especially not,” he gestured to the houses with his free hand, leaving Sokka’s lower back a bit cold, “out in the open like this.”

Sokka turned, knowing the distraction of walking would help Zuko sort through whatever he was thinking. Zuko moved with him, their hands swinging between them. 

“It’s okay,” said Sokka gently, sending the most understanding kind of feeling he could bring up across the bond, “it’s new for me too.”

“Really?” said Zuko, not quite accusing, but a little sharply. 

Sokka tried to use his tired brain before he replied, also knowing that Zuko was already gearing up to protect himself. He had felt every time Zuko lashed out to protect himself since he was fifteen. He’d felt every sting of rejection, every door closed on him, even if Sokka couldn’t see them for himself. 

And Zuko had probably felt Sokka’s secrets too. Sokka had thought he was in love with Yue, he’d had a huge crush on Suki in university before they realized they were best as friends, he’d even had that weird one night stand with Jet in the winter of his third year. He hadn’t thought about what Zuko could feel from him. Maybe it was a bit selfish, but he’d wanted it to feel like he had control, like he didn’t belong to some stranger because the universe said so. 

But he’d always known it was going to be Zuko. It was always going to be the feeling in his blood of fighting to survive, of gritting his teeth through the pain, of breaking his heart and dragging the pieces with him no matter how heavy they got. He was ready for it now. 

“I have dated other people,” Sokka started cautiously, the bond turned a bit stiff like cardboard, “but I knew you were gonna be waiting for me.”

Zuko looked down at his shoes as they walked, leaving his hand in Sokka’s. Sokka kept talking, letting his emotions show plainly through the bond. 

“I think I realized I loved you when I was eighteen.” 

Zuko tripped and Sokka caught his shoulder before he fell. 

Zuko looked at him incredulously, “What?”

Sokka shrugged, “I don’t know if you remember what I was like back then. I had just broken it off with Yue, she was my high school girlfriend, and Katara went to a university prep summer camp with Aang. I was feeling really alone. You were so angry and scared, but then you did something that terrified you, something that really hurt, and you just… made it work. You were so determined and you pushed through and then you were okay.”

“I left home then, tried to get away from Ozai. I thought it would be the end of all that, but obviously that didn’t really pan out,” Zuko said sardonically. Sokka squeezed Zuko’s hand again. They were almost at his place. 

“So you left your family and maybe that’s why you felt alone too. It felt like we were alone together for that whole summer,” Zuko nodded, eyes wide, “That was really the first time I felt like I could get through anything. Everyone I knew could leave me, anything could happen to me, and I’d get through it because I’d always have you and you’d always have me. Yeah, I didn’t know who you were and I couldn’t even talk to you, but I loved you anyway. I dated people, but I never loved them like you.”

They reached the doors of the apartment complex. Zuko and Sokka stopped, hands still joined. 

“I think I might be scared that you’re going to change your mind once you get to know me,” Zuko said honestly, “I’m not easy like you.”

“Hey, we don’t slut-shame in this household,” Sokka said in mock-offense. 

Zuko whacked him gently on the arm, “You know that’s not what I mean.”

“So you’re not easy,” Sokka shrugged, “I’m a workaholic who spends his weekends practicing boomerang throws in the park. Nobody’s perfect. But I think you might be getting pretty close, at least for me. You can change your mind, but I’m not going to.”

The bond felt so full. It was one of those moments when they were perfectly in sync. Sokka felt a solid, hopeful, kind of love in his veins and in his heart. Zuko kissed him once on his cheek and once on his hand. Then he let Sokka go. 

“You should get some rest,” he said, “If you stay awake any longer you might be setting a record.”

“And I think you should go check on your car, it’d be a shame if someone egged it.”

“Ha ha.”

True enough, Sokka passed out the moment his head hit the pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! Sorting some things out!
> 
> I'm thinking there's one more chapter left for this AU, stay tuned!
> 
> -mylevelence


	11. Final Showdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko practices public speaking. Sokka upgrades an enemy to an archenemy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Shrek the Third Sountrack titles did not best me on this day! The seasonal depression mixed with quarantine depression is ready to strike tho ♪~ ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ
> 
> TW: brief mention of child abuse, like blink and you miss it brief

Zuko straightened his cufflinks, fiddled with his belt, then went back to the cufflinks. The black suit was new, more expensive than anything he owned. Iroh had picked it out, saying it made Zuko look like the man he was becoming. Zuko thought it made him look like a James Bond impersonator, but he trusted his uncle. 

“You’re gonna pull them out if you keep doing that,” said Mai boredly, not looking up from her phone. Iroh, Mai, Aang, and Katara filled Zuko’s office space. Aang sat at the corner of Zuko’s desk, scanning the internet for any last minute news about the Ba Sing Se project or Reyall. Katara quadruple checked her research on the Reyall contracts, braids swinging across her shoulders as she flipped the pages. 

Zuko wouldn’t say she’d suddenly become his number one fan, but she treated him with respect which might be more than he deserved. They didn’t talk about Sokka or the soulbond, and Zuko didn’t plan to bring it up. 

Mai, while appearing to be texting on her phone, was also organizing Zuko’s notes for the impromptu presentation he was about to give. Or at least, the illusion of an impromptu presentation. They’d been prepping him all week. 

The call to Iroh had been much simpler than Zuko had thought it would be. He had imagined griping and apologies, he’d imagined Iroh would say no. Instead, Iroh had told him to hold his words and come for tea. Zuko was glad that he did. Over the course of that one cup of green tea in Iroh’s cozy sitting room, Zuko unpacked his new position, his new relationship with Azula, finding his soulmate, and the decision he had come to about Ba Sing Se. Iroh had simply nodded and asked Zuko to come back the next morning. When he did, he found that Iroh had created his own little task force of Katara, Aang, and Mai. Zuko didn’t know how Iroh got her contact details, but she had been there at the crack of 9am, ready to work with a blank stare on her face. Iroh had refused payment, but Zuko got Mai to help him set up a fund for Iroh’s organization, just in case the meeting went badly and Zuko couldn’t keep his shares. 

A week of planning, contingency planning, rehearsing, and tea drinking had gone into this crucial hour. Zuko desperately hoped all their hard work was worth something. Well, actually the hope came from Sokka, filling his veins with hope and certainty and pride. Zuko on his own was really just desperate. 

Ty Lee texted Mai to let them know it was time to hit the conference room, just in time to miss the small talk but still be punctual. Azula didn’t come to fetch him, she didn’t need him to do anything for this meeting. He was supposed to sit beside her and nod along to everything she said. She was about to have a very bad day. 

“Nothing new came up, I think you’re as ready as you can be,” said Aang cheerfully. 

“Remember to check your notes for the right section numbers,” said Katara. 

Zuko ducked his head in a nod, praying he would somehow remember all the things he had to say and when to say them and how to say them. He wondered for the millionth time if he could just send in Katara in his place. The steel in her eyes and the set of her shoulders would be more convincing than him. 

Mai walked over to Zuko and efficiently fixed his collar and cufflinks, “You’re not going to screw up, you’re not going to crash and burn,” she waited for him to nod, “and if something goes wrong I’ll set the printer on fire so you can escape.”

Zuko laughed, startled by the image, “Deal.”

“Nephew,” said Iroh gently, standing by the door, “Let’s go.”

“Okay,” Zuko said, taking a big breath. 

“Good luck Zuko!” Aang called after them. Zuko didn’t turn back. 

Iroh and Zuko followed Mai down the hall. Her chunky heels fell silently on the carpet. 

“Uncle,” said Zuko under his breath, “If this doesn’t work, I just wanted to say thank you. You didn’t have to help me, but it means a lot.”

Iroh smiled warmly at him, “Zuko, I’m proud of you for what you are trying to do, I’m proud of who you’re becoming. There’s nothing wrong with letting the people who love you help you.”

Zuko was not about to cry because he was going into the big meeting where he had to be cold and calculating. It would not be a great start to walk in sobbing. He was not going to cry, he was not going to cry, he was- oh my god he was totally gonna cry.

His veins pulsed with a clear feeling, it was almost like a thought. Sokka, somewhere in the building, was kindly telling him to get his shit together. Zuko smiled, okay he needed that. He sent a bit of appreciation back down the bond and he could feel Sokka laughing somewhere. 

They reached the main conference room. It was packed. There were almost thirty chairs around the table and the walls were lined with PA’s and aids frantically scribbling on clipboards or ipads. Almost none of the usual board members were in the room. There was one chair open near the head of the table on Azula’s right hand side. 

Mai held the door open for them. She didn’t say anything, but the tilt of her chin and the glare in her eyes told Zuko to take them all to hell. He’d do his best. 

He had to work hard to keep from flinching when Azula noticed Iroh enter the room behind him. Her nails seemed to dig into the arms of her chair and he could see the muscles in her jaw clench. Zuko kept his eyes just above her head. He slid into his chair easily and placed his notes folder on the table. Mai brought a chair to the other side of Zuko for Iroh. 

“What’s this, Zuzu?” Azula spat, din of the room masking her words. 

“Don’t worry, niece, I’m just here to watch,” Iroh said placidly. Azula huffed, clearly not able to make a scene in front of all their most important investors. She cleared her throat loudly and the chatter in the room died down. 

“Hello everyone and welcome to the quarterly investors report. I hope you all enjoyed your weekends,” Azula said with uncharacteristic graciousness. Zuko looked around the room while she recapped the chairperson’s election, of course painting herself as the scrappy underdog and Zuko as her do-gooder sidekick. These were the people who paid to develop rainforests into oil plants, who paid to bring cruise ships through protected waters, who paid to sweep political missteps under the rug. He could see how if he had kept working to make his father proud, he’d be sitting at this table, waiting to throw money at the next project without a thought to the consequences. 

Azula wrapped up her introduction, “and so with the upcoming Ba Sing Se resource extraction project we hope to continue to bring record shattering returns on your investments.”

Zuko stood, “Thank you for the introduction, chairperson.”

Every eye in the room locked on him. He forced his shaking hands still. This was something he knew how to do, not necessarily public speaking, but picking himself up and carrying on. He pretended the sense of calm and confidence in his veins belonged to him. 

The lights dimmed and the projection screen rolled down, in place just as he reached the spot beside it. Mai deserved a raise. 

He could see Azula furiously mouthing words at him, but he couldn’t quite make them out. He could guess pretty well that they were not words of encouragement. 

“The Ba Sing Se project offers a great potential for Reyall Ltd. and our generous investors. By maintaining the area as a nature conservation area and offering the surrounding communities clean energy from the already operational hydroelectric dam, we are able to retain your investment and pay dividends into the future.”

A rustling murmur carried around the room. Zuko heard the scratching of pens on paper and the clicking of keyboards. He carried on. 

“The Ba Sing Se peatland stores 50 billion tons of carbon taken from the atmosphere. At twelve dollars a ton, that’s 600 billion dollars of value stored. Strip mining Ba Sing Se is forecasted to bring a net gain of only 70 billion dollars until the mine runs dry. Furthermore, studies have shown that the reduction of housing utilities in low income areas results in a higher percentage of highschool graduates and local economic stimulation.”

The slides changed as he spoke, cleanly designed and clear. Zuko didn’t look at them. He looked into the gloom concealing the investors, concealing Azula. 

“You are looking at a project for social responsibility, you are looking at the future of Reyall,” Zuko said clearly, the red of the last slide shone from the corner of his eye. “Any questions?”

The lights came up. 

Iroh was smiling, at least. Zuko saw a few slack jaws, a few eyebrows drawn in confusion, one death glare to make his blood freeze in his veins. That last one was Azula. Zuko decided not to look anywhere near her zone until he left, even though she was the closest to him. 

The room burst into a clamour. 

“What do you mean stored value?”

“Does this mean we won’t get a return? What do I tell my clients?”

“Are you nuts?”

“Who the hell are you?” 

“Is this really Ozai’s son?”

Zuko felt his anger flash at that one. His bond wasn’t full of calm anymore, it felt like Sokka pulled his emotions back. He left space for Zuko to use his own anger. 

“Regardless of who my father is, I am your majority shareholder. The capital you put in to build Reyall Ltd. is my capital now,” Zuko let his teeth show as he spoke, hands now steady at his side, “I will use the savings from pulling our Ember Island palm oil development project to pay out any of you who wish to turn elsewhere.”

“You’re pulling Ember Island?!” Azula practically shrieked. The room collectively stared at Azula. Zuko noticed a bit of blood at the corner of her mouth. She must have bitten through her cheek. Azula took a loud breath and placed her hands in her lap. They had curled into fists. “Apologies for the interruption dear brother,” she said cloyingly, “But I seem to have been looked over in the briefing for this decision. Not very professional of you.”

He didn’t let her have the satisfaction of seeing him cowed. He ignored her, speaking to the investors again.

“My attorney will bring you through the minutiae of these changes shortly. For now, I will simply say going forward, Reyall will be following the triple bottom line philosophy. The priorities are the people we impact and the planet we work for. The profit comes only at the satisfaction of the first two. If that is unsuitable, my attorney will now discuss the legal procedures of disengaing from Reyall.”

Zuko sat down beside Azula as Iroh launched into the contract negotiations. She kicked him under the table with her heel, hard. It hurt in the way that Zuko knew she’d broken the skin right away. He didn’t flinch, clenching his teeth against the pain. One useful thing about growing up in Ozai’s care, he knew how to take a hit. 

The bond came alive with concern and Sokka’s own kind of energetic anger. Zuko reassured him that he was fine, focusing on the sense of calm that came from listening to Iroh take care of the tricky bits. 

His stunt had pretty much blown the whole meeting off track so once the last investor had wheedled a contract closing deal with Iroh, there wasn’t much else to talk about. Azula thanked everyone for coming in a cold disconnected monotone. The investors filed out with their aids and PA’s, some already shouting orders into their phones. Soon it was just Iroh, Mai, Ty Lee, and Azula left in the room. 

“Uncle, thank you for your help. I’m sure you want to get going with the work so I’ll catch up later,” Zuko said, unable to shake the formal tone from his voice. It felt like protection from what was coming. 

“Of course,” said Iroh, gathering his papers and standing. He faced Azula before he left, “You must look within yourself to save yourself from your other self. Only then will your true self reveal itself.”

Zuko and Mai traded a look, what did that even mean?

Azula didn’t reply. Iroh sighed and left the room. The door shut with a soft click. 

“Azula,” Zuko started, “I’m-”

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Azula said, voice shaking with rage. Zuko shut his mouth. Mai and Ty Lee stood on opposite sides of the room near the walls. Zuko wondered if they’d stop Azula from trying to kill him. “Do you know how hard I worked for this? I don’t think you fucking do.”

Zuko shook his head, he’d been there for pretty much a week and a bit, there was a lot of office history he’d never know. 

“I’ve been here shaking hands and crushing problems since I was nineteen. Dad had me taking university game theory courses since I was sixteen. I had to be everything you weren’t, prove I was the son he never had, and even then I could never get it right,” a twisted smile split her face, “You know what happens when we don’t get things right. I had to be smarter and more ruthless than anyone in this fucking city just to hold on.”

“Azula, I-”

“SHUT UP!” she shrieked. Zuko winced from the pitch. He saw only Mai’s reaction, but he could tell she and Ty Lee were having a silent conversation from across the room. “Shut up,” Azula said again, words coming out hoarse, “I should’ve known you’d tear it all down, I never should’ve made dad’s attorney give up those shares. Stupid, STUPID!” 

Zuko was stunned. She’d given him the shares? It wasn’t dad’s last ditch effort, but her plan all along?

Azula laughed in her throat, “Don’t look at me like that, Zuzu. I wanted him in jail just as much as you. Who do you think leaked his bank documents?”

“No way…” 

“And you have the NERVE to walk in like you own the place and wreck everything I built.”

“It was the right th-”

“I don’t CARE ABOUT THE FUCKING RIGHT THING!” she stood over him, leaning on the table for support. Blood splattered on his sleeve. It sank quickly into the black fabric. A pull like reigning-in tugged in his veins. Sokka was right, it wouldn’t help to scream right back, as much as he wanted to. Azula’s reaction was completely fair, well maybe not the leg stabbing, but she was in some ways right. He had gone behind her back and tugged out the rug from under her. 

“You’re not going to lose your place or your money because of this,” he said quietly. Mai gave him a tiny nod. Azula’s lip curled and Zuko got worried she was going to strangle him right there in the conference room. 

“And what about my life,” she said heatedly, “What about carrying on the family name? About the legacy?”

“You can keep it all, Azula! Why do you have to choose between hurting people and losing everything?”

“Because, that’s what I’m good at! I can’t suddenly be some environmentalist social justice warrior. I had everything I wanted for a _week_ and you took it from me,” she said, now turning cold. 

What could he say? She was right. When he didn’t have more fighting words for her, Azula pushed up from the table roughly.

“Ty? Let’s go,” she said without looking at Ty Lee, “We’re done here.”

Zuko let her go. The door clicked shut again. 

“That was easy,” said Mai sarcastically. Zuko groaned and put his head in his hands. He never wanted to hurt his little sister like this. He could feel Sokka trying to pull him out of a spiral, and Mai physically pulling him to his feet, “Not here. You’re running the show now, fall apart at home.”

“Ha, I was saving my other breakdown for later.”

“Double feature, I’ll bring the tissue box and the punching bag.”

“Sounds great,” Zuko drawled. They left the conference room. Zuko went to follow her down the hall to his office, but Mai put a hand on his arm to stop him.

“Go home, Zuko. I’ll pack up your stuff and check on Iroh’s operation, but you’re free.”

Zuko opened his mouth to protest but she stopped him with a raise of an eyebrow.

“Don’t you have a man to track down?”

“I guess I do.”

“See you tomorrow Zuko.”

“Thanks Mai, I’ll… I’ll see you.”

Zuko made his way to the lobby. The bond felt a bit nervous, then an excited kind of panicked. Zuko wondered what Sokka was doing to make him feel that way in the middle of a work day. The regular afternoon bustle moved around him. He took out his phone to see if Sokka wanted to go somewhere for lunch. He typed and-

A body barreled into him, sending him stumbling.

“Hey! Watch-”

The jolt of recognition zipped through the bond. Sokka was breathing hard, hair coming out of his top knot.

He waved a hand, “Hey Zuko, look, no time to chat, let’s go.”

“What-”

Sokka grabbed his arm and started running for the parkade stairs, Zuko went with him easily. 

“So you know that dickish engineering manager at my firm?”

“The one you said you were gonna put milk in his coffee?” Zuko asked as they wound their way down the cement stairs to his car. 

“Yeah so I did that today,” somewhere above them, the staircase door slammed open and a man’s voice shouted something Zuko couldn’t hear, “and I think he figured it out.”

Zuko and Sokka hit the parkade floor running. Luckily Zuko remembered where he parked. They scrambled into the car. Zuko turned the key and chucked the car into reverse as fast as the gearbox would allow. Out of the passenger window, he saw a man with a buzzcut and a very red face running at them, yelling something about lactose intolerance. 

“Go go go!” Sokka said. 

Zuko hit the accelerator and they screeched out of the parkade into the light of the city. 

**********

Sokka was glad he brought the denim jacket with the sheepskin lining. The cold air nipped at his cheeks and ears. His hands were warm though, Zuko always ran a bit warmer than him. 

When Zuko had said they were going to dinner, Sokka had pictured a Milestones situation with low lighting and maybe a steak. Then Zuko had driven past the milestones, past the outskirts of town, and up the mountain road. Sokka had insisted they listened to Zuko’s opera in the car, but driving through the dark woods with the spooky music had made the whole thing seem more ominous. Sokka had asked if Zuko was going to leave him in the woods as a joke and Zuko laughed. He hadn’t said no, though. Sokka had been about ready to demand where they were actually going, when they pulled into the lookout. 

How Zuko timed it, Sokka didn’t know. The sun was just setting, casting purple and pink and blue over the fog covering the city. The autumn fog lay like a blanket on the city below, only the tops of a few skyscrapers peaked above, looking like ships on calm ocean waters. Sokka had never even seen a picture that looked like that.

Zuko had pulled out a blanket and a spread of food, setting them up on top of the car for the best view. And there they sat, with the whole world below them. 

Sokka pulled a hand from Zuko’s gentle grip to pick up another piece of pizza. It was his fourth, but he didn’t think Zuko was going to fight him for it. 

“I didn’t know this lookout existed,” said Sokka, “We used to drive by here all the time when we were little. I was so terrible at skiing, but Katara picked it up right away. We stopped coming when mum died and dad had to go away.”

Zuko leaned into his shoulder, passing something like condolences through the bond. Sokka shoved the rest of the pizza slice into his mouth and wrapped an arm around Zuko, hoping the pizza grease wouldn’t stain Zuko’s jacket. It was black, it’d be fine.

“Nah, don’t worry, I hated skiing, much more of a snowboarder, you know?”

Zuko chuckled and looked out over the city cloaked in cloud. The bond synced up again, with Zuko looking at the open space and Sokka looking at him. It was contentedness like he hadn’t really felt before. There was nothing missing, nothing to look for at every corner, he had everything he needed. 

“Sokka?” said Zuko, still looking ahead.

“Yeah?” 

“I think you’re the best thing that has ever happened to me,” Zuko turned his head just slightly to meet Sokka’s eyes, “I don’t think I want anything but you.”

“That’s a relief, I thought you were gonna shoot your shot with Katara for a second there,” Sokka joked. Zuko elbowed him but didn’t move away. 

“She’s not as handsome as you, who’s gonna open my jars?”

“Katara would toss you off this cliff if she heard you insinuate she couldn’t open a jar.”

“That’s fair. I really thought she was going to put on my suit and march into that investor’s meeting,” Zuko said. Sokka grinned, she probably might have if Zuko didn’t do it himself.

“Doesn’t it feel good to have that whole thing done with?” Sokka asked, reminded of his own project. He still hadn’t got any feedback on that, but it had only been a week.

“No,” Zuko said, “I made a lot of people angry, I lost my sister all over again.”

“C’mon, she’ll come around,” Sokka reassured. He filled the bond with all the warm things he felt in that moment, soothing down Zuko’s sting, “There are some really good things though, right? Aang said you guys gained a whole slew of new investors into your whole green socially conscious schtick.”

“Yeah, we pretty much turned over the whole investment portfolio. Aang said the media likes my young Antonio Banderas look and that more progressive firms are fighting to get a piece of Reyall. I think he just sends me the good articles though.”

“The fuck? You don’t look anything like Antonio Banderas,” said Sokka, leaning back to look over Zuko. Maybe his shaggy black hair and low raspy voice could be compared, but Zuko’s eyes and scar and mouth and nose were entirely his own. In the soft purple light, he looked like he came from above instead of below. Sokka pressed a kiss to the spot just above his scarred eye, “Way better.”

Zuko laughed, “I think you actually look more like Antonio Banderas.”

Sokka flexed his free arm, “It’s the shoulders, for sure, but we can both be really bad Antonio Banderas look-alikes.”

“What will the media do when they find out about you,” Zuko mused, “I wonder if Reyall stock will drop because I’m in love with a man?”

Sokka felt his heart jump in spite of himself, “You’re in love with me?”

Zuko seemed to think over his words for a moment, then he kissed the back of Sokka’ hand which rested on his shoulder. Sokka thought his head might burst. 

“Yeah, I am,” Zuko said quietly smiling out at the city, then over at Sokka, “I don’t think there’s any other way to explain it. You’ve been looking out for me since we were teenagers. When I saw you for the first time I kind of wanted to die because no one else would ever look like you and I couldn’t handle not seeing your face again. I want to be with you all of the time, even though I can feel you when you’re gone. I’m in love with you because you’re still here even after knowing how messed up I’ve been. I’d do anything to make you happy and I think that makes you love you more, I think you make me better.”

Sokka was pretty sure that was the most words he’d ever heard Zuko say in one go. The pull pull pull built in the bond. Sokka’s throat felt a bit tight. Sure, he could feel that Zuko loved him and he loved Zuko back, but it was more like an unspoken agreement on Zuko’s end. That was fine with Sokka, he knew Zuko had a bit more to work through to get to what he really felt. It was different to hear it so plainly, spelled out across the sky. 

Sokka pulled Zuko to him with the lapels of Zuko’s jacket. They crashed together, lips and hands and breath. Sokka braced an arm against the roof of the car to stop them from sliding off. There was no one around, but Sokka still kept the feeling of the bond close in his mind, waiting for Zuko to ask him to back off. 

The feeling in the bond wasn’t like that at all. It was the sense of content, the fizzle of attraction, the undercurrent of want that Sokka had been working to keep down, ecstatic that Zuko felt it too, and the near overwhelming love. Love, true and big, poured through every touch of Zuko’s lips and every soft gasp of air. 

When Sokka eventually pulled back, it felt like his head was spinning. Zuko grinned at him, mouth wet and eyes shining gold. Sokka felt that gold in his veins and he wanted to keep it there forever. 

“I love you too, by the way,” Sokka said, “In case you’re wondering.”

“I know,” Zuko said dryly. 

“C’mere, jerk,” said Sokka, shifting Zuko until he was sitting between Sokka’s legs, back against his chest with Sokka’s arms wrapped around his front.

“I don’t know if that’s the winning nickname,” Zuko said. The city lights were starting to pierce through the fog as night chased out the day. To Sokka, the lights almost looked like a massive swarm of glowing jellyfish under the surface of the fog.

“You don’t think jerk is romantic?”

“Do you want me to start calling you a prick again?”

“It’s got a nice ring to it, reminds me of how we met.”

“I hit you with my car.”

“Stunned by my shocking good looks I hear.”

“How about I’ll be Zuko and you can be Sokka.”

“I guess we can make that work.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it!
> 
> If you enjoyed, please feel free to drop a comment, I read them all and cherish them close to my bosom. If you want more modern AU Zukka, be free to check out my other work Engineering Fire and Rain which has a certain je ne sais quoi of chaotic energy. 
> 
> Have a most lovely 10pm-5am!
> 
> <3
> 
> \- mylevelance


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